Princess of Darkness Wizard of Travesty
by Arien-SG1
Summary: The heirs of Lothian have been the inspiration of fairy tales. One day they would rule again and the Romans would loose even more power. Now they are much more then fabled children, they are heroes, and it is no simple task to help them. FINISHED- SEQUEL
1. Strangers

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
"There's word of rogue knights riding our way." Tristan whispered to Arthur as a maid filled their mugs with more beer.  
  
"How many?" Lancelot asked from behind them, squatting down to join the conversation.  
  
"Three, so far they've done nothing of interest except renounce god in front of the Pope." Tristan said, his expression serious.  
  
"That's a rumor dear Tristan, no mortal man would be so bold to wish his death by a holy man's hands." Lancelot snapped, seriously doubting he heard this story anywhere but from a barmaid.  
  
"Not men, women." Lancelot said even quieter. "A reliable source tells me there headed to Lothian."  
  
"Three women? Rogue Knights? Are you mad?!" Lancelot asked, louder then he meant to.  
  
"They are only stories." Arthur said darkly as he spotted Guinevere headed their way.  
  
"If it is really just a story, then I suppose three nights from now none of us will be in the watch tower looking for these damned women?" Tristan asked sarcastically as he leaned back in his chair and smiled at them.  
  
------  
  
Three women and a man were spotted riding towards King Arthur's castle that very night.  
  
One woman, with dark red hair wore chain mail suited for a women's body and held an axe in her left hand. She was cloaked in green and one witness swore she had red eyes.  
  
Another woman, smaller then the first, had curly blonde hair and a blue cloak. She carried a bow and arrows sticking out of her quiver had golden feathers on the ends.  
  
The man, with jet-black hair, cut to his ears, had no weapon. He simply rode his black horse with a long white walking stick in his left hand, the top had a blue sapphire stone. But as he looked at the town's people they passed, he whispered something in a language none of them had ever heard before, they think it was a curse, but just a few minutes later water rained on there dried dusty fields and crops sprang to life.  
  
The last woman, rode proudly with her back straight and her short brown hair falling in her face. She had four swords strapped to her back, and wore no cloak. Instead she wore a long sleeved leather top, the left sleeve missing, was replaced by three silver rings around her upper arm. She also had a hood made of animal hide that hid her facial features and matching hide pants. Each sword had a different color jewel the size of a baby's fist in the handle. She looked like a warrior with silver gauntlets, each engraved with sapphire stones.  
  
------  
  
"Arthur, more Romans are flooding our home! How long will you grant them refuge?" Bors asked angrily as he looked out over the castle walls and spotted a caravan headed for them.  
  
"It's almost night." Lancelot whispered as he walked past Tristan. He sneered back at him, wishing he would trip and fall down the stairs.  
  
"I was Roman once Bors, should I to be murdered in my sleep when you have had enough?" Arthur asked, looking at him sternly.  
  
"You live here Arthur, but if we keep letting these people in, who's to say one day they wont attack US in our sleep?" Bors snapped, his temper getting the best of him.  
  
"What's that?" Lancelot asked, looking over the wall towards the forest.  
  
"Looks like a fire......" Tristan said, a slight hint of happiness in his tone.  
  
"Arthur?" Lancelot asked, smiling at him.  
  
"I will go." Arthur said, leaving them alone on the balcony to watch as he strode down the stairs to the stables.  
  
Arthur mounted his horse after retrieving his sword from his blacksmith. He rode slowly, careful not to get in the way of the approaching caravan. The forest was a ten-minute ride from the castle gates, but the fire seemed to be fairly far into the trees.  
  
He got off his horse quietly and tied his reigns to a tree before going in on foot. His sword, securely in his hand, hidden by his cloak, as he walked.  
  
He heard voices talking quietly once he was a few feet from the fire. He saw it clearly now, the flames dancing happily as they burned twigs tossed into the middle of a clearing.  
  
He spotted a figure with a blue cloak, sitting with there back to him, and an axe on the ground next to the fire.  
  
Then, he saw a man, wearing black, looking right at him.  
  
Arthur froze, thinking fast if he should leave or stay to talk with them. But then, after a few moments of standing still, he noticed the man wasn't blinking. Just standing, with his eyes open, looking directly at him. Arthur raised an eyebrow and waved a hand in the air, still no response.  
  
He shrugged it off and continued looking around from the edge of the clearing. There were four horses, but only two people. He turned to look for them, but as he did he felt pressure on his lower back, like the tip of a sword.  
  
He was pushed roughly onto the floor of the clearing. The man who had been dazed moments earlier jumped and swore as he noticed the stranger.  
  
The person with there back to him didn't move, but now he heard a voice behind him,  
  
"What business do you have sneaking around in the woods?" a woman asked him quietly.  
  
Arthur rolled over to his side and looked up at a strikingly beautiful woman with short hair. Surprised by her outfit he took a few moments to gather his thoughts before responding,  
  
"I am King Arthur, it is you I have to ask about creeping in my woods." He said, not daring to sit up just yet.  
  
The woman smiled, "These are woods that belong to no man, not king nor god."  
  
"You believe god a man?" Arthur asked, remembering what Tristan had told him about the rogue knights.  
  
She sat down on her knees, looking him straight in the eye, "Men believe they are god's in there own right. Same could be said for Kings."  
  
Arthur raised his eyebrows and leaned back on his elbows, "Are women above the sinister thoughts of greed and lust of money and power?" he asked curiously.  
  
There was a harsh laugh from behind him, and another woman leaned over him. Her red hair fell out from under her green hood and she smiled, "No one is above such thoughts, maybe a child though."  
  
The woman with the leather attire pulled Arthur to his feet and walked over to the fire, "We have broken no laws of your King. We will leave tomorrow so that you may rest in peace knowing we do not burden your land with our presence."  
  
Arthur laughed coldly, "I imagine you will burden any land with the wrath of God if you are caught."  
  
"God has no power here!" the woman yelled as she turned back around and glared at him.  
  
Arthur nodded, "Then join us. Stay in my castle for a fortnight." He said quietly, trying to be polite.  
  
The man now looked at him with a curious expression, "First you try to remove us from your forest, but now you offer us room in your castle?" he asked, sounding more then amused.  
  
The woman with four swords looked at him for a very long minute before replying, "What have you heard of us?" she asked quietly.  
  
"That you renounced God in front of the Pope and now you are headed to Lothian." Arthur said, brushing a few twigs from his shoulder.  
  
"Those are rumors, I assume the villagers make stories to liven up there dingy taverns." She said with a laugh, "We are headed home, to Lothian. The Pope knows nothing of us or our religious orientation."  
  
"Then we will go?" a slightly anxious voice asked from under the blue cloak.  
  
"Yes." The woman replied as she picked up her swords and strapped them to her back.  
  
"You are Knights then?" Arthur asked sounding amused.  
  
"I am no Knight, I am Princess Arien of the Scots." She replied dryly as she grabbed the reigns of her horse. Arthur caught a glimpse of her gauntlets and smiled,  
  
"Your Majesty." Arthur said, inkling his head politely towards her.  
  
She ignored him and made her way past back to the fields towards his castle.  
  
Now the figure in blue stood up and faced him, revealing a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. She mounted her horse and Arthur spotted the beautiful arrows in a quiver hanging off the saddle. "I am Lorain, cousin of Arien." She said lightly, trotting past him.  
  
The man sighed as he tried to pull his horse forward, "I am Owen, Arien is my Princess, and I am her humble servant."  
  
"A servant with a wizard's staff and a jewel worth more then his own life? I am impressed by Lothian's wealth." Arthur said, holding back a laugh.  
  
The man glared at him and Arthur looked to the last woman, her red hair neatly tucked back under her hood, "Do not ask me my name, I do not dare speak it." She said darkly, as she twirled her axe in her hand and walked past with her horse.  
  
Arthur sighed and followed them out of the forest; he would give Tristan the honor of escorting them around the castle. 


	2. Damsel in Distress

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
Arthur walked under the gates with a sense of fore boding; Lancelot was likely to be unhappy about Tristan being right. Tristan was likely to tease him about it endlessly for days.  
  
He spotted them standing with Bors and Guinevere just a few steps from the castle entrance.  
  
He dismounted his horse and instructed a stable boy to take him to the blacksmith to be re-shoed.  
  
"This is Bors, Lancelot, and Tristan. Just three of my noble knights." He turned to Guinevere and grabbed her hands, "This is my wife." He said quietly, smiling at her.  
  
Lancelot spotted the woman with the swords roll her eyes and glance at the tall man beside her.  
  
"And they are?" Tristan asked eagerly.  
  
"Ah yes, Princess Arien, Lorain, Owen, and......" he paused, looking at the nameless woman thoughtfully, "Diamandra." He said with a nod of his head.  
  
Diamandra beamed proudly, apparently proud of her new name.  
  
"Princess? Of what?" Lancelot asked curiously, smirking at her.  
  
"My past is my own Knight." Arien snapped darkly.  
  
Lancelot took a step forward, his height only a few inches higher then Arien's. "From what I hear your quite a little Knight yourself, woman." He replied angrily. "With four swords, I'd love to see you try to fight me with them."  
  
Arien pulled two from their sheaths and looked at him, tempting him dangerously to live up to his words. "Then fight me, see first hand how a woman wields the power of a sword to tarnish reputations and destruct empires." She hissed quietly, her eyes flashing with anger.  
  
Lancelot looked at Arthur with his eyebrows raised, but before Arthur had a chance to stop him he had pulled out his own swords and approached her.  
  
There was a pause when they surveyed each other closely. Then Lancelot watched as Arien walked towards him with her swords at her sides.  
  
"Strike me." She whispered, looking into his eyes.  
  
Lancelot faltered for a moment, stunned by her request and lack of fighting.  
  
That was all she needed, as he stood motionless she kicked him in the groin hard as she could.  
  
He fell to the ground, clutching him self and gasping. She leaned over him and ran a finger down his left cheek, "See me Knight, for my power over men makes me a fierce competitor. I could have killed you, but your life is not for me to end." She leaned a little closer and whispered, "Next time you may not be so lucky, mercy is not an emotion I express often." She smiled at him then stood back up and looked at Arthur.  
  
"Well then......." Bors said, looking at Lancelot sympathetically. "Come with me good Lady, I will escort you to my lover, a fine cook and wonderful hostess." He continued, putting his arm around her shoulder and walking her away from the writhing man that had once been his brother in arms, "I don't expect him to get up any time soon." Bors said lightly as he smiled at the Princess.  
  
------  
  
Arthur sat out side Arien's room impatiently. He had his back against the wall, watching maids run in and out of the room.  
  
It struck him suddenly how much he truly had to be grateful for. He spotted a young man trying to get past carrying a large stack of parchment,  
  
"You, what is your name?" Arthur asked him, taping his shoulder.  
  
"I am called Non." He replied very quietly, looking down at the ground. Arthur noticed his feet were bare,  
  
"Non, go to the seamstress and tell her I want shoes made for everyone working in this castle." He said sternly, nodding at the boy with a little smile.  
  
The boy instantly brightened and ran off with out looking back.  
  
"Does that make you a hero? Giving a poor boy a pair of shoes, yet tomorrow you remember nothing of the deed that may have inspired him to save a small part of this world?" Arien said from the doorway.  
  
Arthur crossed his arms, "And what makes you a worthy Princess? Perhaps because you were born to wealth? Forget how your family came to the position in the first place, by murder or accident, you had nothing to do with it did you? Now you patronize me, my deeds, with out a thought to your own? What makes you so worthy to judge my actions when you know nothing but stories of the man you antagonize?"  
  
Arien said nothing, she just looked at him for a few seconds before backing up a step and shutting the door to her room once more.  
  
Arthur let his forehead rest against the cool stonewalls, pounding his fist against it in anger.  
  
"Do not let her get under your skin." Guinevere said, turning the corner to look at him.  
  
Arthur sighed, "No, she is right. A pair of shoes is a small gesture of my thanks to these people."  
  
Guinevere smiled at him, "You are a King, and these people came to your home- our home- because they heard you were a hero. You are, no matter what a Princess from the North thinks of you. You did not ask any of them to seek you out and make your food, nor did I or any of your knights."  
  
"Arthur! We have trouble!" Lancelot called as he turned the corner, looking at him with an expression of resentment.  
  
------  
  
Arien grabbed her swords and set off in the castle to find Owen and Lorain.  
  
"They've come, we finish this now." Arien said hotly as she spotted them playing chess in the kitchen.  
  
Owen looked at Lorain for a few seconds before they both jumped to there feet and chased after her.  
  
Arthur stood, looking out over the walls down to the forest edge, where he had found Arien.  
  
Now sixteen men were headed towards them, led by who he thought might have been a Roman soldier.  
  
"Call for them, they explain now." Lancelot commanded, looking at a servant with a basket of bread.  
  
"They might not be looking for anyone." Tristan tried to reason.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "Then why would they have hunting dogs?"  
  
Arthur was about to agree with Tristan but before he could Bors pointed out that now the men were pulling out there weapons from under there black cloaks.  
  
"They are few." Bors said, smiling devilishly as he fingered his blades.  
  
"We are fewer." Arthur snapped.  
  
"This is our fight, they will not bother you." Arien called as she rode her horse under the arch they stood talking on. Lancelot ran to the edge and looked under,  
  
"How do you know that?" he asked suspiciously.  
  
"Because I will slit their throats." She said darkly as the guards pulled open the gates and she rode out followed by Diamandra and Lorain.  
  
When Lancelot turned around he nearly fell because Owen has appeared in front of him.  
  
Owen smiled coyly then turned to look out over the wall towards the men.  
  
Arthur raised his eyebrows as all the knights watched his staff glow an eerie green as apposed to its deep blue color.  
  
They heard him mumble something they couldn't make out before lifting the staff into the air. Arthur jumped back as a lightning bolt struck the ground just in front of the rides Arien was headed for.  
  
"Bloody hell!" Lancelot yelled excitedly and amazed as he leaner forward and watched some of the rides being kicked from their horses.  
  
"That's not the best part." Own whispered as a circle of fire surrounded them and cut them off from any escape route.  
  
Arthur let out a low whistle as the fire stayed in a contained line rather then spreading to burn up the wildlife.  
  
"That's.........impressive." Tristan said, deeply entranced by the sight.  
  
Now there attention was called to Arien, who had taken out her swords and was pointing at the men in a very threatening manner.  
  
"She's going to get her self killed." Lancelot muttered darkly, hoping he would have been the one to do it.  
  
"I doubt it Knight." Owen said lightly. "This is what she does."  
  
"Why is it a Princess fights with the skill of a man?" Bors asked curiously.  
  
"Her brothers were all killed when she was a small child. Her father took to raising her like a boy, he knew very well she would never replace them, but she had the determination and the spirit." Owen replied, yawning as he continued to watch Arien circle the men and shout.  
  
"We have heard of no King of Lothian." Tristan said, deeply offended he might have missed some tidbit of information. "The land has no definite roots-"  
  
He was cut off by his own words loosing track of themselves.  
  
Arien had already knocked six men off there horses, killing them no doubt, but while her companions were occupied with a rather large man and three rabid dogs she was attacked from behind.  
  
They heard no noise, not a scream or a howl of pain. She simply fell to her knees then looked down at the sword sticking out of her side. They saw her turn to look at her murder, but instead she took her two swords, stood back up and sliced his head off from both sides.  
  
Then everything slowed down as she looked up at Owen. She was to far away for them to see her expression, but they saw her fall again, this time she didn't get back up. 


	3. Hidden Motive Secret Lie

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
That night was cold. The winds from the East tore at the walls, relentlessly berating Arthur for his foolishness. He stood by the North wall for hours, patiently waiting for good news, any news.  
  
He looked at the men lying, slain, in the middle of the field. In the morning he would send someone to clean up the mess, perhaps burry the barbarians in unmarked graves.  
  
"She's awake." Lancelot said from behind him. He placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder in an effort to comfort him, "It may not be long."  
  
Arthur nodded, "Do you think we were wrong?" he asked as Lancelot turned to leave him, "Should we have helped her?"  
  
"It was her fight. She made that decision."  
  
------  
  
Arthur stood in the doorway, looking at her lying in the bed. Her swords were rested against a chair near the window.  
  
She looked peaceful, he imagined she would have looked like that always if her brothers hadn't been killed.  
  
"Do not blame yourself." Lorain said quietly as she walked past him, only glancing at him before sitting on the floor next to her friend's bed. "She always said the only way to die with honor was defending yourself."  
  
"No one dies with honor if they wield a sword in their hand and hatred in their heart." Owen said coldly from the corner. Arthur looked at him, he had been hiding in the shadows.  
  
"I will die if you do not let me rest." Arien snapped as she rolled over in her bed, her back to them now.  
  
Arthur saw Owen and Lorain pause for a few moments before getting up to leave the room. He stayed though, and he knew she could still tell he was there.  
  
"Will you die?" Arthur asked quietly, not exactly sure why it mattered so much to him. He sighed, "If you stay......will you help me?"  
  
"Help you what?" she asked quietly, pulling the covers tighter around herself.  
  
"I think, I was fighting so hard for men to be equal......I forgot about my wife. She deserves to be my equal, as well as yourself." Arthur said, looking at her back sadly.  
  
She sat up and looked at him, her expression revealing no pain. "I am not your equal Arthur. You were right, I do not deserve my title......that's why I am here, that's why I use my swords to defend those who need it as apposed to those who want it. You were given the title as an expression of your countries love for you have come to be."  
  
Arthur nodded, feeling relieved by her words. Yet, as she turned her back to him once more he felt her time was not soon to end, she was here for a reason and he suspected they would find out soon enough what it might be.  
  
------  
  
"WIZARD!" Lancelot called angrily as he marched into the meeting room.  
  
He spotted Arthur and Owen, sitting at the round table talking quietly when he entered. They looked surprised by his appearance, like he had fallen into a well.  
  
"Explain to me why when I walked into Arien's bedroom this morning looking for Guinevere I find neither, but in their place a bucket of water over the door?" he demanded, utterly furious because of the sheer madness of this prank.  
  
"I have no idea." Owen replied truthfully, standing up immediately, "Where would her body be?" he asked, mortified someone might have stolen it.  
  
Arthur led them out of the room, running up and down halls, calling for Guinevere or Arien.  
  
"King Arthur! The woman was out in the court yard!" Non-said, catching up with him.  
  
Arthur leaned down and kissed his forehead, "I am forever in your debt, young knight." The child beamed, obviously, proud of his King's praise.  
  
------  
  
Lancelot was first to find her. She was in the courtyard, watching men train to become knights.  
  
Bors and Tristan were standing in the center of the large field, surrounded by a dozen men on each side. They were demonstrating proper tactics for sword fighting.  
  
She was sitting on a tree stump, her legs crossed and back straight. He thought she might have been asleep, except he stepped on a twig and the noise drew her attention as he came up from behind her.  
  
She said nothing, just simply turned back to watch the men taking turns beating each other with sticks carved like swords.  
  
"What do you see?" Lancelot asked quietly as he stood behind her, trying to find what might be so interesting about the groups.  
  
"I see boy's, striving to be hero's for there country." She replied softly, then she looked up at him, "Just like you."  
  
"No, I already am a hero." Lancelot corrected her proudly, his cocky side getting the better of him.  
  
Arien stood up slowly, the pain she felt in her side obvious as she pressed her hand to the wound and scowled. She swayed, but Lancelot caught her around the middle and helped her stand.  
  
"Quite early for a bath, isn't it?" Arien asked sarcastically as she felt his damp clothing against her arm.  
  
"Indeed." Lancelot replied acidly as he helped her up the walk back towards the castle.  
  
"So knight, I imagine your eager to start a family." Arien said suddenly, getting bored with the dull silence as they walked.  
  
"Why do you say that? Is it so obvious I have no children?" he asked unhappily, hoping it really wasn't to bold.  
  
"No one becomes so attached to their swords unless they have no one else to fight for them. In your case I bet any one in this castle, excluding my self, would give their life to save yours......but it must be something more you crave." Arien said with a coy smile.  
  
"There were women once, but it gets complicated. My swords are the only women to have a relationship with me for longer then three days." Lancelot replied, laughing in spite of him self.  
  
Arien looked at him seriously, "You are young and very bold. A woman would be wise to fear you, I presume they already know a life with you would be full of surprises."  
  
"I am not so dangerous." Lancelot said loudly, hopelessly defending him self.  
  
"A man with two swords, is a man surrounded by fear." Arien replied in a singsong voice.  
  
"And a woman with four?" Lancelot asked with his eyebrow raised, smirking at her.  
  
"Well naturally she is prepared for twice as much danger as any fool with two."  
  
Lancelot laughed, it had been a long time since he smiled so much because of one person. She smiled at him as they spotted Arthur running towards them down the last staircase.  
  
------  
  
Arien was confined to the west wing for three weeks after her escape into the courtyard.  
  
Arthur had become a little edgy, he did not want anyone out side the castle gates after nightfall, and even during the day they had to be accompanied by a guard.  
  
Meanwhile Galahad and Gawain returned with Merlin from their visit to Rome.  
  
"Arthur, the Romans fear us!" Gawain shouted in an aggravated manner as his king turned away from him.  
  
"The Romans fear NO ONE!" Arthur yelled as his head snapped back around to glare at Gawain angrily.  
  
"The Romans fear their shadows. Something you seem to have effectively proven." Arien said quietly from her seat at the round table.  
  
"Explain." Arthur commanded as he sat across from her. Gawain sighed and joined them.  
  
"You used to serve them, now you are free and your country is soon to follow. They were prepared to offer you your freedom in an attempt to subdue your thoughts of un knightly acts towards there government. But now, you have taken your freedom, yet still remain hostile towards them. In their thoughts you are nothing more then a memory they wish to ignore......in effect? You are there shadow, you have the power to start a revolution and they'll be damned if they let you know it." Arien said darkly, playing with a flower in her hand.  
  
"How do you know this?" Arthur asked, leaning forward, and looking at her suspiciously.  
  
"You have asked me my name, where I am from, where I am headed, but never my purpose or where I have come from." Arien said with a slight smile, leaning back in her chair and watching the fire burn in the holder at the center of the room.  
  
"Then tell us now, your purpose, and where you have traveled from." Arthur said sternly, not in the mood for mind games.  
  
"Perhaps another time." Arien said, suddenly standing up and grabbing two of her swords. Arthur and Gawain watched in confusion as she left the room quickly.  
  
Before they even moved they heard guards calling for them to go to the North tower quickly.  
  
------  
  
From the tower Guinevere stood with Arien and Merlin. They watched lights spring to life in the distance, a few days walk from the castle.  
  
"What is it?" Lancelot asked as he joined them.  
  
"Camps." Merlin said quietly as he squinted in the darkness, trying to see better.  
  
"That's a very big camp." Arien said, "They might just be land markers."  
  
"How so? What are they marking, weeds?" Lancelot asked sarcastically.  
  
"Bodies." Guinevere corrected him, "That's where Arthur had the barbarians buried a few days ago."  
  
"And now its time you tell us who those men were, and who they were scouting for." Arthur said from behind them.  
  
Bors was with him, he looked worried.  
  
"Lancelot, you said that first day we met you had heard of no King of Lothian?" Arien asked, looking at him as she continued her story, "Well that would be because his family was slaughtered when his mother was eight months pregnant. They thought they had killed the child inside but instead he was found by a Roman soldier who pitied him." She paused, looking back towards the lights, "He was raised in secret, trained to be an expert warrior in hopes that one day he would rule. It took years, he was almost forty by the time he had enough strength and courage to be a fine ruler. By then, his foster father had been discovered."  
  
"He was murdered in an attempt to keep rumors from spreading about a new heir to the land. The Romans failed, but while the rumors evaded peasants and serfs, they spread like wildfire to nobles and the likes." Diamandra said sadly, as she walked into the tower room.  
  
"My Father got away, I believe he ran to a village where he was taken in and cared for like a son. He married a woman who claimed she was from Scottish heritage and had seven children. Six boys, one girl. He was already to old to old to rule by then, so he raised his children with the belief that one-day they would. Secrets are hard to keep." Arien continued acidly, her anger vivid. "They found him, his sons, and his wife."  
  
"And you?" Lancelot asked curiously.  
  
"I was spared, a boy named Alecto claimed me as his wife." She replied dully. "They could not stop the rumors, so I was forced to marry him so that he would inherit the land."  
  
"However, with out proof, his word means nothing to the Romans." Owen said, nodding at Arien. "With no bride, he has no power."  
  
"But those men, they are no doubt the families of the other blood lines claiming lord ship over Lothian. Those scouts, were there future kings." Arien said happily, smiling at them.  
  
"You can't be serious, we slaughtered those men! THEY WERE KINGS!" Bors yelled hysterically.  
  
Arien shrugged, "Now I suspect there gathering the bodies before leaving......or launching a full scale attack."  
  
Arthur felt light headed, this was happening to fast. "What can we do?"  
  
"You can do nothing, but we must get there before they do. If we beat the Romans and those blood thirsty barbarians, there is a chance I can hide." Arien said quietly, like she wasn't really sure it would work all that well.  
  
"Until what?" Lancelot asked in total disbelief, he doubted she would outlive the war to come.  
  
"Only a male heir can inherit the throne." Lorain said, looking at all of them seriously.  
  
"So that's your brilliant plan? Go home and hide until you have a legitimate heir? You said yourself your mother only claimed to be of Scottish heritage, how do you know it isn't all a sham?" Lancelot asked loudly, seriously doubting her sanity.  
  
"My Mother was the daughter born in Bamburgh Castle! She is the rightful heir to that land, my father marrying her was by no accident Knight!" Arien hissed angrily as she glared at Lancelot. "l will not ask your permission Arthur, King of Camelot. We leave tomorrow at first light."  
  
With that Arien left the tower watch room and slammed the door shut as she went. They all stood quietly, beyond amazed how this had all fallen into there laps.  
  
"I do not think it was by accident she happened to find us either King." Tristan said quietly. 


	4. New Hope

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
Arien slept three hours that night. The winds keeping her from any real rest.  
  
As the bells rang to signify the fourth hour she left her room and walked quietly out of the west wing. She knew Arthur had forbidden it, but since she was leaving in the morning she wanted to take one last bath.  
  
She kept a red cloth wrapped tightly around her body as she walked. The winds were warm; unusual for this time of year she took it as a warning.  
  
The bathhouse was just behind the castle, straight across from the stables.  
  
Walking around the castle grounds, nearly naked, she feared no one. At this time of night they were all sure to be fast asleep.  
  
She saw from the steps to the courtyard that there were lights on inside her destination, perhaps they had just cleaned the water, making it ready for the next days use.  
  
She walked inside quietly, wanting to see before she was seen.  
  
Past the pillars she saw one figure standing in the center of the pool, his head bowed as let water pour onto him from the ceiling opening, a mock waterfall Arthur built him self.  
  
Lancelot.  
  
She considered leaving, just walking away and trying to go back to sleep, but he spotted her before she had the chance.  
  
Not wanting him to think he had embarrassed her she walked towards the steps into the water and let the red cloth fall to the ground.  
  
He looked relaxed, like he was in some sort of dream.  
  
She waded into the water until she was completely submerged.  
  
Lancelot tried to look under the water for her, but the dim lighting from the lamps did no help.  
  
She re surfaced behind him, keeping her back to him as she ran her fingers through her hair and water dripped down her back to rejoin the pool.  
  
"What is your purpose?" Lancelot asked quietly, not daring to touch her in fear of his own safety.  
  
"I am a messenger." Arien said, he head turning to the side just enough so she could see him watching her from the corner of her eye.  
  
"A messenger for who? What do you deliver?" Lancelot asked, reaching out and grabbing her shoulder. He pulled her to the side gently so she would face him. She merely looked at him, watching his eyes search her for answers.  
  
"When you look at me, it is as if you see right through me." Arien said at last, looking deeply troubled.  
  
"No......I see a woman." Lancelot replied, not sure what she meant.  
  
"I do not see a man when I look at you." She said softly, her eyes not leaving his.  
  
"What else is there to see?"  
  
"I see a man I could have loved."  
  
"Is there no possibility now? We have only just met." Lancelot said in a bewildered manner.  
  
"I can not love a man who would not love me in return." Arien snapped angrily.  
  
"You do not know me, you know nothing of who I feel for." Lancelot hissed, aggravated because his midnight bath had been disrupted.  
  
"Your King is vain, I grant you, but do you think he can ignore it forever? You are his best friend, loyal companion, and most beloved knight! Is this how you repay him?!" Arien asked darkly, shaking her head in disgust.  
  
"I know not of what you speak, but if it is treason, or that I might harm my King you are mistaken! Fear me woman I do not play your games! Tell me now what you presume to imply and be gone!" Lancelot yelled, pointing towards the door.  
  
"I do not choose who I love, nor do you. Arthur married the one you desire, yet you are blatantly ignoring you own feelings!" Arien yelled, pulling his arm back down.  
  
"I DO NOT FEEL!" Lancelot yelled, his voice now echoing all around them. He looked down at her hand, still holding his, "I can not feel." He said, sounding like he had just realized it for the first time himself. "I can not do what you ask of me."  
  
"I have asked NOTHING! Do you really think one day she will turn around and grant your wishes? If you really love that woman you would leave her, other wise you condemn her to death as well as yourself!"  
  
Lancelot pulled her close to him, not wanting her to leave until she answered his questions. His face was nearly touching hers as he spoke next,  
  
"Then what? I go with you and live out the rest of my life in hiding?" he asked bitterly.  
  
"No, instead you make a choice for yourself, not what your King asks of you. Defy him and he will not harm you, but betray him and you will die by his hands."  
  
"Is this the message you were sent to deliver?" Lancelot asked, looking her straight in the eye, daring her to lie to him.  
  
"There are so many things about to happen that are much bigger then the Knights living in this castle. Do you not find it odd a woman you have only just met knows your intentions towards Guinevere? "  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "There are NO intentions! Arthur is my King! I WILL NOT BETRAY HIM!!"  
  
Arien pulled away from him and made her way out of the pool towards her red cloth.  
  
"You have a husband." Lancelot said quietly, watching her retreat from his presence.  
  
"If your god exists, then by all rights he might consider it so, but I have said it before and I will say it only one last time; Men are only mortals, they can not take what they please and leave the remaining to wither in there shadows. He calls himself my husband......but he will never have me, or my country."  
  
"I asked you once what a woman with four swords fears." Lancelot said, taking a step towards her.  
  
She picked up the cloth and wrapped it around herself once more. She turned back around to look at him, "I have spent my whole life waiting for one moment when I would finally be good enough. That is what keeps me going, but what happens when I run out of hope? Who will save you then?"  
  
"You do not need to save me." Lancelot said defensively.  
  
"You spend your life protecting the innocent, defending those to weak for fend for themselves. But who protects you good knight?" Arien asked sadly. She did not hesitate a moment longer, she simply left him alone with his thoughts.  
  
------  
  
Arien, Diamandra, and Lorain mounted there horses quietly just before sun rise.  
  
They sat looking at each other with edgy expressions, not one of them was sure where to go from here.  
  
"We have a plan." Diamandra said sternly, nodding as she urged her horse forward and they trotted out of the stables.  
  
Arien was last to exit, and she was greeted by four men on horses in her path.  
  
Arthur, Bors, Tristan, and even Lancelot.  
  
"I can not let you come." Arien said, her expression showing obvious pain.  
  
"I did not ask." Arthur replied, smiling at her.  
  
She looked at Lancelot, he said nothing, but she got the impression it was because of him they were going to accompany her.  
  
"Princess, I will not go with you this time." Someone said from behind her. She turned and spotted Owen, standing with Merlin and Guinevere, "I have done my duty, as well as you yours."  
  
Arien, bowed her head to him for a few seconds, she smiled, a wicked smile no one else understood the meaning of. "Then we will leave you, but I am forever in your service."  
  
Lancelot and Arthur exchanged confused looks as she came up to them on her horse.  
  
"We go south." Arien said darkly.  
  
"But your home is north!" Lancelot protested, not liking what she was implying.  
  
Arthur shook his head, "South." He said, smiling at Arien as he joined her at the front of the line.  
  
"I only agreed to go because of the bloody wizard!" Lancelot protested angrily, ignoring Bors and Tristan laughing behind him. 


	5. The Missing Heir

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
Arthur took the lead with Lancelot, but Arien and Lorain fell to the back to talk in privacy.  
  
"You let him stay, why?" Lorain asked impatiently, obviously annoyed by the set back in there plans.  
  
"This way we are all safer." Arien replied lightly, not wanting details to be overheard.  
  
"Why south? What troubles could possibly await us there?" Lorain asked, looking behind them with shifty eyes as her hands griped her bow tightly. "They are following us." She whispered.  
  
"That's the idea cousin. Now listen to me, these men have no idea what they are getting there kind into, at all costs they must not figure it out. Our lies are our own as well as our secrets." Arien said, narrowing her eyes as she looked behind them and spotted something reflecting the rising sun.  
  
------  
  
The first two days went with out incident. They traveled at a steady pace and did not ask questions of one another.  
  
By the third day Arthur had caught on to the fact that they were being followed, he also became suspicious of Arien always riding in the back, talking in hushed voices with her companions.  
  
He stayed behind with her that day, wondering if she might tell him on her own they were being followed.  
  
She watched him with an expression of dislike, it was almost as if her intentions towards him had morphed overnight. Where she was once cool and forward with her replies, she became hard and cryptic, like telling him any information at all would reveal some sort of secret.  
  
"Where south are we headed?" Arthur asked, looking at her with his eyebrows raised.  
  
"Lyonesse." Arien replied shortly.  
  
"And what is there?" Arthur asked, pressing her for more information.  
  
"Arthur, you are smarter then you would like to admit, I am sure you know we are being followed. But those are not the Scots that came to collect me and my companions."  
  
"Then who are they?" Arthur asked, turning around with a confused expression on his face.  
  
"I'm not to sure I want to find out just yet. But just because were headed in one direction, dose not mean we will reach that certain destination." Arien replied quietly, watching Tristan playing with a few stones in his hand.  
  
"I am not to sure I understand." Arthur said, his eyebrows raised, "But in any case, we can not loose them by riding in the middle of this field all day."  
  
"You see, you are much smarter then you let on." Arien said with a smile, shrugging when he asked her to elaborate her comment.  
  
------  
  
Night came quickly but Arien did not let them stop, instead they continued in silence inching closer and closer to the edge of the forest.  
  
"The dark usually means any scouts sent to listen to our conversations would have retreated to camp with his fellows for the night. They will not know we turned around for quite some time, but we will have to be careful trying to get around them when they are sure to be camping with out a fire and in the middle of this darkness." Arien whispered to Arthur and Lancelot as they dismounted from their horses and walked past the first few trees.  
  
"Then how will we see at all?" Tristan asked from behind them.  
  
She smiled, her teeth reflecting light from the full moon. Lancelot got it immediately and pulled out his swords, using the light reflecting from it to guide him.  
  
"And if they see us?" Arthur asked quietly, pulling out his own sword.  
  
"We will already be prepared to fight them, I'm just hoping we spot them first."  
  
They walked quietly, fanning out so that their weapons would not reflect too much light at one time.  
  
Eventually Arien caught a glimpse of a man sleeping on the ground, his arms tightly crossed over a piece of parchment as he lay on his back.  
  
She looked around for the others; when none were in sight she stopped and kneeled down to see what was so important.  
  
The man snored loudly when she poked him hard in the arm, testing him. Relaxing, she placed one of her swords on the ground and gently pulled the paper from under his grasp.  
  
"Move a muscle and I will slit your throat." Someone said darkly from behind her. She felt cold steel rubbing against the back of her neck, moving forwards towards her jugular.  
  
She let go of the paper as the once sleeping man snapped to life and sat up, looking confused and afraid.  
  
Arien felt hands grab her around the middle and pull her to her feet.  
  
"You must have known we would find you." The voice said again.  
  
She raised her eyebrows, the man once sleeping in the dirt tried to back away from her and her captor, but another few men appeared from behind some bushes and knocked him out cold with a swift kick to the back of his head.  
  
She turned around, "Artimus." She said quietly, rolling her eyes.  
  
"We heard word of three women knights, headed for the one named King Arthur. While he was of no use to us, your kind was. But now we seem to have in our possession some of the most feared and skilled from all over the world. Knights of the round table." He said quietly, his gray eyes reflecting light and making himself look eerie as he motioned with his hand towards a guard behind him.  
  
The guard left them for a second before returning with comrades that pushed Arthur, Lancelot, Tristan, and Bors to their knees before them.  
  
Arien sighed, "What do you want?" she asked angrily, secretly pleased he had indeed followed them away from the castle.  
  
Artimus motioned to a guard holding onto Arien and then Lorain and Diamandra were pushed out into the light.  
  
"I came for you, dear Princess." He paused, taking a step towards Diamandra and running his hand down her cheek. She spit on him, "I see none of you have changed, still as deadly as you are beautiful. But then that got me thinking." He stopped and turned to look at Arthur, "What would Knights of the Round Table be doing with ancestors of the Shadow Warriors?" He smiled; it made him look like a true devil.  
  
"Were going for a midnight stroll." Arien said, shrugging.  
  
"Alecto sent toes fools." Artimus said angrily, spitting on the man who had tried to escape.  
  
"They who could have possibly sent you?" Arien asked sarcastically.  
  
"We come for the Prince." Artimus said, suddenly furious as he glared at Arien.  
  
"You have seen for yourself who my companions are, no young boy is among us." Arien said, smiling slightly.  
  
"And that is what we thought......at first. But you see, we passed a small village not far from the new kingdom, that claimed three women and a young man had just passed. We sent night after night trying to figure out who that boy might be......so it is only natural we have come to assume he is the missing heir. The Pope may have claimed to kill all of your family, but as you still remain, is it not only fair to assume young William might have as well?" Artimus asked quietly, fingering Lancelot's swords.  
  
Lancelot raised his eyebrows and looked at Arien, "Owen?" he mouthed, an expression of surprise clear on his face.  
  
"But dear Arien, you are not the Princess you claim to be, are you?" Artimus asked calmly as he approached her and looked at Arthur.  
  
Arien smiled, "Oh, poor little Artimus, still as dull as when I first met you." She said quietly.  
  
Artimus slapped her, hard on the cheek.  
  
Her face fell to the side, moving her jaw; she could not believe how much it hurt.  
  
"I should have killed you then, I will not make that mistake a second time." He hissed.  
  
By now Lancelot and Arthur were thoroughly angry, this man had no right to hold them here.  
  
"The man you seek, dark hair? Tall, carries a wizards staff?" Lancelot asked suddenly.  
  
Artimus turned suddenly to look at him, "You know of him?" he asked.  
  
"Never heard of him." Lancelot said sarcastically, smiling at him.  
  
Arien rolled her eyes, this was going nowhere. As Artimus yelled and kicked Lancelot she turned her head slightly to whisper to the guard holding her.  
  
"It's so hot, could you loosen you grip......just a little?" she asked innocently. The man shook his head, swallowing hard. Then he tried to readjust his hands to keep a tighter hold of her, but that was all she needed.  
  
Quicker then Artimus could turn around Arien had knocked three of the guards holding her, Lorain, and Diamandra unconscious to the ground.  
  
She grabbed Lancelot's swords from the ground and held them to Artimus's neck just as he turned to face her.  
  
She smiled at him, "Darling, I already spared your life once as well. I will let you go if you promise to help us." She said, raising her eyebrows seriously.  
  
Artimus sighed, "What do you want?" he asked bitterly, his shoulders slumping in defeat.  
  
"Who sent you this time?" she asked, daring him to lie to her.  
  
"I do not know his name, he only told me to find you and kill you, but spare the boy. He was not associated with the Pope, I do not know how he found out about you or the Prince before anyone else. Just tell me one thing, is he really the Heir they have been searching for?" Artimus asked quietly, sounding interested.  
  
"He is not William, Owen is my twin brother, but more then that I dare not tell you here." Arien said, tossing one of the swords to Lancelot who immediately seized it and started for the guards.  
  
"Well then, how can I help?" Artimus asked as Arien tossed the other sword to Diamandra.  
  
"The Prince is safe, but we still need to find this man who suspects his true identity. I presume he would be headed north, to the Pope in his country estate. He must have sent you to distract us, but I do not know why." Arien said, looking up at the stars.  
  
Lancelot, Arthur, and Bors had now knocked the guards around them to the knees and instructed all of them not to move or speak.  
  
"What now?" Artimus asked, watching Arthur glaring at him.  
  
"Well first, why did you lie to me about that village?" Arien asked, "Did you think this time you would finally kill me?"  
  
"I had hoped......" Artimus said bitterly, following her as she led them out of the forest, towards the horses.  
  
"We have to do this carefully, I have no idea who that old man might have been, its likely were going to see him in our travels. Can you come with us?" Arien asked, putting her own swords back in their sheaths on her back.  
  
"What of Owen?" Artimus asked, "Is he safe?"  
  
"He is with Merlin." Arthur said, pushing Artimus to the side as he made his way to his horse.  
  
"Merlin? The dark wizard?!" Artimus asked, sounding suddenly fearful.  
  
"He is a good man." Arien said, mounting her horse, "Artimus, if you come with us, you will not be given any reward for your good deeds."  
  
Artimus looked down at the ground and sighed, "Well I suppose I do owe you, after all you saved my life in Rome during that gambling incident......but this is only a temporary treaty." He said, nodding at her.  
  
"You can't be serious! This man just tried to kill us!" Tristan snapped angrily, looking at Arien, totally shocked as he mounted his horse.  
  
"Yes, tried and failed, now he's going to help us." Arien said, offering her had to Artimus.  
  
They shook hands firmly and Artimus disappeared back into the forest for his horse and throwing daggers.  
  
"I hope you know what your doing." Lancelot whispered darkly.  
  
Arien turned around to look at him, "No bloody clue actually. But I figure an assassin is better to have with us then against us."  
  
"He's not a very good assassin, now is he?" Arthur asked angrily, obviously upset.  
  
"Never has been." Lorain said laughing with Diamandra.  
  
"Lorain, Diamandra, you know what I ask of you. If this old man is indeed suspecting Owen is alive, then it is left to you for now." Arien said, nodding at them.  
  
Lorain nodded, "He is a good wizard, but we will protect him."  
  
"And warn Guinevere of everything that's happened." Arthur instructed, glaring at Arien.  
  
"An more lies we should be aware of?" Lancelot asked angrily.  
  
"Not at the moment, but we shall see." Arien snapped, urging her horse forward as she spotted Artimus coming back out of the forest.  
  
Lorain and Diamandra bid them fare well, but Arthur asked Bors to accompany them.  
  
"Then we are five." Arien said, smiling at Artimus. "We are headed north, towards Anglesey Island."  
  
"What on Earth do you expect to find there?" Lancelot asked, keeping his swords in his hands, as he watched Artimus.  
  
"The Pope has many secret retreats at this time of year, I suspect he would be headed for the most secluded. I can get us there." Arien replied, watching Lorain head the others back towards Camelot.  
  
"How do you know we can trust this man?" Lancelot asked quietly, as Artimus rode with Tristan and showed him how to juggle.  
  
"Artimus was trained by my father as well, as much as he likes to deny having met me before the incident in Rome, I saved his life twice now, he is an honorable man and will respect his vow to help us." Arien replied with a shrug,  
  
"He promised to help us find the man who told him of Owen, what after that?" Lancelot asked, pressing the subject even further the Arien would have liked.  
  
"He will try to kill me, but if you are nice to him he may spare you life." Arien said, completely serious.  
  
"You keep odd company." Lancelot said bitterly,  
  
"Lancelot, the closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm." Arien said, smiling at him.  
  
Lancelot frowned, "That makes no sense." He said angrily, glaring at her as she rode up to join Arthur in the lead. "Who the hell are the Shadow People anyways?" 


	6. Silent Praise

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Arthur said coldly, not looking at her as she rode up beside him.  
  
"Tell me King, which would you like to know? Logic or Lie, which ever suites you I would be happy to tell." Arien said, matching his heartless tone.  
  
"Are they not the same in your mind?" Arthur asked, still not looking at her.  
  
Arien turned to face him, her eyebrows raised. "Ask what you will of me."  
  
Arthur sighed, "Why do you not trust us?" he asked quietly, not wanting anyone to overhear.  
  
"I trust no one." Arien replied darkly, her icy tone unintentional.  
  
"Even the men who have saved your life?" Arthur asked, his eyebrows rose as well now.  
  
Arien shrugged, "What is a life? Mine has been nothing more then pain and agony, spare me from it and I will simply owe you eternal happiness.  
  
"If you were dead, I could not hold you to such a promise." Arthur said, smiling a little.  
  
"Then ask, I will not lie......but ask only questions you wish to know the answer of......sometimes we know to much about so little and the burden of intelligence becomes more then any one being should have to bear." Arien said, slouching a little in her exhausted state.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked, honestly confused about the whole situation.  
  
"I am the daughter of a King, the sister of a Prince, and Knight of the Shadow People." Arien said, rubbing her left hand across her right gauntlet.  
  
"I have never heard of these 'people'. What can you tell me about them?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.  
  
"They are a new race, living in the shadows of the Roman Empire. They have no names, no home, and no will to live. They would kill you with out asking your purpose before they even saw your face."  
  
"How do you know them?" he asked even quieter as Lancelot and Tristan rode a little closer to them.  
  
"The Roman soldier that found my father, was the leader of that race. He was employed on the inside, gather information in an effort to over through the Roman Emperor."  
  
"They killed him because he was a traitor, not the care taker of the next King of Scotland." Arthur said suddenly, mostly to himself. "Then they did not know who your father was? How did they find out?"  
  
"My father ran directly to a safe house the Shadow People had kept for themselves in time of great need. He was taken in and treated like one of their-own, he was more of a source of hope then anything. If the new king ever rose to power, the Shadow People would be free to live anywhere they wished, they would already have a bond unbound by mortal law with there savior."  
  
"How so?" Arthur asked curiously, the puzzle pieces slowly starting to come together now.  
  
"My Mother, she was one of there kind. She was also of Scottish descent as well, on of the first to escape from the Roman armies in the very beginning." Arien said with a slight smile, memories flooding back to her now.  
  
"How did they know of you, not your brother?"  
  
"Like the leader of the Shadow People, the Romans had heard of them and sent their own spies. Our nursemaid was one of them, but she was weak, after my birth she sent word of the last heir being a girl. They sent an army just to murder my family. It was this same maid that convinced Alecto a marriage to me would mean unbelievable power for himself."  
  
"But what of your brother?" Arthur asked, getting impatient now.  
  
"That poor maid claimed him as her own son, but he found out soon enough it had been her that betrayed our parents. He murdered her with his bear hands." She paused, looking at the melting ice in a lake nearby for a moment before continuing, "He was never good with a sword, but a friend of our Father, Merlin I believe you call him, trained him to use magic when weapons of steel were out of reach."  
  
"So the old man has been involved from the beginning." Arthur whispered, sounding amazed by the news. "How does Artimus fight into this story?"  
  
Arien didn't say anything else, but by the looks of it his last question deeply troubled her.  
  
------  
  
They rode through there next few days, sleeping in their saddles.  
  
On the ninth day they were forced to make camp, Tristan and Lancelot had taken up fevers and were to weak to ride on there own.  
  
While they slept Arien, Arthur, and Artimus talked quietly, watching the shadows cast by the fire.  
  
"We can only stay one night, tomorrow we should double up and let two horses tail behind us." Arthur said, watching Lancelot roll in his dreamless sleep.  
  
Arien nodded, "We are only a days ride from the Island."  
  
"Yes Love, but how do you propose to get us in? We can not ride horses across the water." Artimus said curiously, sounding like he had already contemplated that plan.  
  
"We will not need horses once we are there. The Emperors castle is near the water." Arien replied, her eyes twinkling like mad.  
  
"But how do we get across? A boat would be to conspicuous." Artimus said, looking up at the stars.  
  
"Then we go under." Arien snapped.  
  
Arthur ignored there bickering and decided to change the subject, "I thought we were headed for the Pope's retreat?" he asked casually.  
  
"Pope is simply code for pompous overly pale entity." Artimus paused, "However I was trying to work evil in there somehow, but then I suppose the other words would have to be changed as well for it to make sense......" he trailed off, mouthing words and counting on his fingers.  
  
Arthur looked at Arien and sighed, "Should I know any other codes?" he asked dully.  
  
Arien shook her head, "We make them up as we go along." She said with a laugh.  
  
------  
  
Lancelot woke up suddenly with a throbbing pain in the side of his head, as he opened his eyes he saw he was leaning against some ones back, there hair in his face as he tried to distinguish who.  
  
"Oh Lord." He said as Arien turned to look at him.  
  
"This was not my choice either, Arthur would not give my swords back unless I agreed to ride with you." Arien hissed angrily.  
  
"You could have beat him with your eyes closed, just admit you fancy the idea of me pressed against you as we ride up and down on this leather saddle." Lancelot replied coolly with a little smile.  
  
Arien elbowed him as hard as she could in his side and he promptly fell right off the horse, gasping for breath and cursing his own stupidity.  
  
Arthur jumped down from his own horse, "What the hell happened?' he asked angrily, pulling Lancelot to his feet.  
  
"She hit me!" he whined, "Do not make me ride with a woman so-so-violent!" he yelled, feeling a little woozy.  
  
Arthur glared at her as he pushed him back up behind her. "Do not harm him!" he instructed, pointing at her swords on the back of his horse, "Or I may just loose one of your precious swords as we ride past a cliff."  
  
Arien sighed and rolled her eyes as she urged her horse forward. Lancelot wrapped his arms around her middle and rested his chin on her left shoulder, "I am positive through hardship our lust for one another will prevail full force." He said, smiling at his new found security.  
  
Arien laughed and punched him in the nose with her right hand. "Oh god! My hand seems to have become as equally attracted to your face as your own ego seems to be!" she whispered as he cried out in pain and clasped a hand to his face to stop the bleeding.  
  
Lancelot glared at the back of her head, much more of this and he would swear off women for the rest of his life.  
  
"You know, I really dob understamb why we canb geb along." Lancelot said thickly, tilting his head back.  
  
"No don't!" Arien said suddenly, reaching over her shoulder to pull his head back down, "You could choke on the blood!" she warned darkly.  
  
Lancelot raised his eyebrows, she was more complicated then any one person had a right to be. He assumed her past had something to do with her sudden outbreaks of emotion here and there.  
  
Then he sighed as he thought about the night in the bathhouse, had it been a dream? He decided he would have to be a dense fool to turn down such a beautiful woman offering her self to him. But then as he looked over her shoulder at her war stained face and stony expression, he realized she was more like him then he had thought.  
  
He smiled, she would be with him for a while, but at that moment, they rode in silence, and it relaxed him.  
  
He closed his eyes and his head rested against hers. She did not push him away or sigh in defeat. She merely looked ahead, ignoring Arthur smiling at her from beside her as he rode with Tristan. 


	7. Leap of Faith

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
Lancelot woke up suddenly when his jaw slammed down onto Arien's shoulder. He groggily looked around with his eyes still half closed.  
  
He noticed with dreamy twisted logic that they had stopped and now someone was talking.  
  
Arien spotted Lancelot was awake and she felt relieved as she started giving orders to Arthur.  
  
Looking around quickly she noticed the thirty guards running after them were only a few seconds away by now. Their destination was separated from the mainland by a two hundred foot drop into dead ocean, and then there was the matter of the hundred feet or so across. She knew the horses could not make that jump, nor could any human survive that fall.  
  
Arthur's horse began to get impatient as it spotted the swords being waved in the air by the guards. They all looked forward, the castle was to the left, directly in front of them, about a ten minute ride from there current position, was a forest line.  
  
Now to the right guards were gathering.  
  
"Lancelot, you keep asking my why I have four swords?" she whispered as they all began to ride full speed forward.  
  
"Yea........." he said slowly. Then it clicked and he smiled, pulling out the two swords she seemed to never use.  
  
He twirled them in his hands and grinned as the men were boxing them in.  
  
"Do not let me fall." Arien hissed.  
  
Lancelot did not ask questions, he simply put the two swords firmly in between his arms and torso and slipped his feet into the saddles stirrups as she took hers out.  
  
She stood very slowly, wobbling side to side as Lancelot tried to keep her steady. Finally she placed one foot on the base of the horse's neck and began to yell at Arthur.  
  
"THROW ME YOUR BOW!" Arien yelled, waving her arm in the air as he turned his head to look at her.  
  
He nodded and grabbed the bow on the side of his saddle and let it sail out of his hand towards her. She caught it, leaning to the left a bit far. Then Arthur let a single arrow go, hoping she did not get hit with it.  
  
She caught it, an inch from her forehead, and immediately sat back down sideways in the saddle.  
  
Lancelot took the swords back out and swung at the men trying to get close enough to them to knock them off.  
  
Arien grabbed a rope from just under the side of the saddle and knotted it to the end of the arrow. She stood up again, making Lancelot roll his eyes as he grabbed her waist again.  
  
Lancelot noticed she aimed with the sleeveless arm, but the silver rings on her upper arm must have constricted her muscles. She shot the arrow high, in fact so high Arthur was sure it must have fallen off the side and dropped into the ocean.  
  
She sat back down and wrapped the rope around her middle once then did the same to Lancelot.  
  
"Wait, what the hell is this for?" he asked suddenly, just now understanding what she had planned. She did not respond, instead she pulled him up with her, as she stood next. Lancelot was amazed that for even the few seconds before they jumped they stood perfectly balanced as the horse continued to ride full speed.  
  
"What about AAAAAAARRRRRRRTTTTTTTHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUURRRRRR?" Lancelot yelled as he tried to turn his head in mid air to spot his fellow knights.  
  
He did not have time to see them, because only seconds after they jumped they both slammed into the side of the cliffs.  
  
"Oh hell!" Lancelot called out in pain, the side of his head hitting the hardest.  
  
Arien yelled no just as he let go of the rope and clasped his hands to his face.  
  
At first nothing happened, but then Lancelot rolled down and pulled Arien with him.  
  
She stood rock solid, straight as a board with his fists clenched as tight as her eyes. Lancelot waved a hand in front of her face, "Hullo? Were not falling anymore." He said, looking up at the end of the rope, only three feet above there heads.  
  
She shook her head, "Are you afraid of heights?" Lancelot asked suddenly, smiling at her.  
  
She opened her eyes and scowled, "I fear nothing!" she yelled.  
  
Lancelot shrugged and looked down at the water some fifty feet below them now.  
  
Arien sighed and looked down as well, smiling as an idea came to her. "We can make that." She said quietly.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "I thought you were afraid of heights! Bloody hell!" he said, getting hysterical.  
  
Arien looked up at him and smirked, "Its either that or we sit here for the rest of our lives and our bones become warnings to others attempting the same."  
  
Lancelot sighed, "I don't-"  
  
Before he had a chance to finish his sentence Arien grabbed his hand and pulled him off with her.  
  
She went head first, her hands pointed above her hands for a smooth dive.  
  
She missed Lancelot falling beside her, his hands waving wildly in the air as he tried to run with his legs at the same time.  
  
They hit the water, Arien as fine, but Lancelot hit the water back first and gasped in pain instead of holding his breath.  
  
Arien surfaced and looked around for him, shaking her head in despair as she took another deep breath and dove back under to fid him.  
  
She spotted him swimming towards the bottom, obviously confused.  
  
When they surfaced together Lancelot began gasping for breath, his eyes still tightly shut.  
  
"Are you afraid of water?" Arien asked sarcastically as he tried to swim against the current.  
  
All in all Arien was exhausted as they washed up onto the shore, Lancelot had fought her the whole way, refusing to open his eyes.  
  
Now as they lay in the sand, both breathing hard he opened his eyes at last and laughed.  
  
"HA! HAHAHA!" he shouted triumphantly. He looked over at Arien, but seeing her half asleep he instead rolled over to her sideways.  
  
He tapped her shoulder hard a few times before she opened her eyes.  
  
"You lost my bloody swords, didn't you?" she asked so quietly Lancelot barely heard her. He frowned,  
  
"Uh......Well I suppose I may have dropped them in surprise before we jumped to our inevitable deaths." He said quietly, trying not to make her angry.  
  
She sat up, and then stood up, brushing the sand from her pants.  
  
Then she sighed, still looking down at her now ruined pants with an expression Lancelot could not quite understand.  
  
She now almost gave Lancelot a heart attack by ripping her pants off and revealing a very short pleated plaid shirt. It was forest green with light brown seems that matched her top.  
  
Her two other swords she took out and wiped clean with her pants before tossing them back into the water. Sliding the swords back into their sheaths she turned her back to Lancelot and walked towards the caves.  
  
He followed her, amazed by her lack of usual womanly decency.  
  
------  
  
Arien explain to Lancelot that night everything he had missed while he was sleeping.  
  
"You see, Tristan isn't very well yet, he would have never been able to make the trip." Arien paused and tossed him another bit of fish to eat, placing more on the heated rock above their fire.  
  
"But then where will they go?" he asked thickly, swallowing everything he had in his hands as quickly as possible.  
  
"The forest, but tomorrow night we have to lower the gate for them, I am not sure how just yet, but we shall see." Arien replied, shrugging her shoulders.  
  
Lancelot nodded, "How do we get up there?" he asked curiously, looking back out the cave to the ocean waves crashing against the beach.  
  
Arien smiled, "Get the fire out, I will show you." She said, standing back up and rubbing her hands together.  
  
She grabbed a few sticks and held them to the flames, rolling them to get them all lit.  
  
Lancelot followed her towards the back of the cave, eventually they entered a small tunnel and had to crawl for a few feet.  
  
She stuck her arm with the sticks into a large hollowed out part of the cave wall and pulled her self through.  
  
Lancelot followed, with an expression of utter amazement. "How do you know about this?" he asked quietly, looking at the carvings on the walls.  
  
She pointed to a staircase and said, "I have dreams about this place." With that she began to walk up the stairs slowly.  
  
Lancelot followed, still very interested in the carvings on the wall.  
  
Suddenly his head began throbbing with pain again and he rubbed it as he looked up, "I told you to stop." Arien said, sitting down on the top of the stairs and looking back down.  
  
He joined her, "A trap door. That's convenient."  
  
Arien shrugged, "We wait here until nightfall." She said quietly, leaning back and closing her eyes.  
  
"How the hell are we supposed to know what time that is?" he asked, looking around trying to spot and sun light in the large room.  
  
------  
  
Arthur sat with Tristan as Artimus slept by the fire.  
  
"What do you think of our Princesses friend here?" Tristan asked, tossing a few dead leaves towards the flames.  
  
"Something isn't right. I can not trust her yet......" He said darkly, glaring at Artimus's back as he slept.  
  
Tristan raised his eyebrows, "I was talking about him." He said quietly.  
  
Arthur shrugged, "We shall see."  
  
"I know what you mean about Arien, something about her story doesn't feel right." Tristan said, looking up at the stars, "But Lancelot is with her, he will not let her betray us."  
  
Arthur laughed darkly, "Lancelot is jaded when it comes towards his feelings of women. It has been to long since any of us saw him look at one the way he looks at Arien."  
  
Tristan swallowed hard, but did not say anything.  
  
Arthur looked at him with his eyes narrowed, "She has another reason for coming here......I can feel it."  
  
As Arthur and Tristan put out the fire Artimus lay on his side with his back to them, eyes wide open. He thought about everything they had said and swallowed his fears, he needed to be ready to help Arien, no matter what the cost.  
  
The light around them died quickly and every ones attention was turned to the sounds drifting past them.  
  
Arthur heard no sound of men, but he thought it was odd they did not chase them into the forest.  
  
He thought it even more peculiar Arien knew it was so. 


	8. Broken Heart

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
Arien and Lancelot crouched three hours later under the trap door.  
  
"What do you mean it leads to a watch tower?" Lancelot asked angrily, pointing at the door threateningly.  
  
"I have an idea. But you have to rip off my hood." She said quietly, pulling his arm back down and looking at him with her eyes narrowed.  
  
She turned around so her back was to him and he began tugging on the hood to rip its seams from her top.  
  
"It will not come loose!" Lancelot hissed as he tugged a little harder.  
  
"Harder! HARDER!" Arien snapped angrily, leaning forward a bit.  
  
Above them, walking past the dirt covered trap door was a guard with keen hearing. He stopped and kneeled down to listen to who ever was below him.  
  
"Oh! Come on! HARDER!"  
  
"Any harder and it will rip right off! Do you want a hole?" Lancelot asked, getting hysterical.  
  
"I do not give a damn about a hole! I NEED IT NOW! HARDER!"  
  
"THERE! Goddamn! You make it so I can't enjoy anything!" Lancelot snapped in an aggravated tone as he threw the hood in her face when she turned back around.  
  
The guard by now had his ear pressed against the old trap door, listening with his eyebrows raised.  
  
Arien sighed as she dropped to her back and placed her feet on the trap door. She kicked up hard, unwittingly sending the guard into the air and over the north wall of his look out station.  
  
They heard the screaming and stood up, looking around with only there torsos showing.  
  
Arien tried to get all the way out when she noticed all the guards leaving their posts.  
  
"What happened?" Lancelot asked, pushing with his legs to get out.  
  
"I do not know, your immense body structure is preventing me from moving." Arien snapped angrily as she twisted around and pushed Lancelot to the side so she could get out.  
  
Lancelot rolled his eyes, "So what was the hood for?" he asked curiously, brushing off the dirt from his shoulders.  
  
"Well I figure with out the matching pants it's useless." Arien said sarcastically.  
  
They walked in silence, looking for a way down into the castle.  
  
"Look there." Lancelot said, pointing to another watchtower. "Isn't it likely if this station had a trap door, the others might to?"  
  
Arien shrugged but walked forwards anyways.  
  
"What happened to everyone?" she asked quietly, seeing another long empty walk way.  
  
"I'd rather not be here when they get back to ask." Lancelot said, pushing her forward a little.  
  
Sure enough there was another trap door, but they did not know what to expect upon opening it.  
  
Arien pulled out her swords as Lancelot wrenched it up and open. Looking down they saw nothing but a wobbly old ladder and a torch on the wall.  
  
Arien slid down first, having put her swords back in there sheaths. As soon as her feet hit the ground she pulled them back out and looked around. Still no one.  
  
"I don't think this is very good." She whispered as Lancelot joined her.  
  
"Maybe they were called to a service." He suggested quietly.  
  
"What would they be doing that keeps them from there pots for so long?" she asked curiously.  
  
"Sacrifice." Lancelot said, clearly joking.  
  
"That's not funny." Arien said, turning around to glare at him.  
  
She stopped suddenly, her eyes looking over his shoulder.  
  
Lancelot turned as well, trying to spot her new distraction. "Uh oh." He said quietly, stepping out of her way.  
  
"My bloody swords! You stole my swords! BASTARD!" Arien yelled angrily, forgetting they weren't supposed to be seen.  
  
A man, walking past the hall they were currently occupying, turned to face them with a clearly confused expression. He looked down at his two new possessions and smiled an awful toothless grin that sent chills up Lancelot's back.  
  
"Aye mum and now I'll take pleasure in killing you with them." He said thickly, now walking towards them.  
  
Arien cracked her neck to the side, the sound echoing in the hall as she pointed one of her other swords at the hefty man now in front of them.  
  
"Look......sir, she means you no harm. Well honestly, she does, and she will kill you......but drop the swords now and I swear to you I will hold her back for at least thirty seconds, to give you a head start." Lancelot said, shaking his head at the man with pity.  
  
"A woman has no place challenging me!" he replied angrily, standing with his knees bent a little more then they should be as he sort of tilted backwards.  
  
"Nor in your pants." Arien snapped, poking him hard in the upper chest with the tip of her sword.  
  
The man spit on the ground in front of her, "How did you two wander into this here castle anyways?"  
  
"Your mother was kind enough to let us in after my friend here did her a little favor last night." Arien said, smiling coyly at him.  
  
"You leave my mother out of this!" he yelled, pointing her swords up into the air.  
  
She kicked him in the jaw as hard as she could, watching his body fall to the ground, a massive heap of useless drunken waste.  
  
She picked up her swords and wiped off the blades on the now dead mans cloak.  
  
"Alright, now we can go." Arien said happily.  
  
"You just had to bring me into that didn't you!" Lancelot sighed, "Bloody hell, do you even ever use those things?" he asked quietly, pushing the body against the wall with his feet.  
  
Arien shrugged, "When I have to, usually it works out better I get to do a wee bit of stretching instead."  
  
------  
  
For the rest of the day they snuck around, creeping in the shadows, wasting time as they waited for nightfall when they needed to get Arthur into the castle.  
  
"how are we supposed to get those guards to let the drawbridge down?" Lancelot asked quietly as they peered over the ledge of a small wall towards a group of fourteen men with heavy armor and swords.  
  
"If I can distract them......can you do it on your own?" she asked, looking at him seriously.  
  
Lancelot paused, then nodded uncertainly. "I can try."  
  
Arien sighed, "That will have to do." With out another word she stood up and jumped over the wall, walking directly towards the guards.  
  
Lancelot frowned, he wasn't sure what sort of distraction she was going to make for him. Then he scowled as he heard the whistling and spotted Arien pulling one of the younger guards down onto a chair and sliding onto his lap.  
  
"She's lucky I'm not the jealous type." Lancelot said quietly, more to convince him self then anything.  
  
Avoiding watching Arien as she shoved her tongue down that poor boys throat he walked with his head down, over to the drawbridge and examined it.  
  
"Bloody drunks!" he said angrily, trying to ignore the whistling and laughter from the guards, now some twenty feet behind him.  
  
He spotted a cranking wheel and began to push it downwards, eventually it caught on and turned its self, lowering the drawbridge at a miraculously quiet level. When it was all the way down, linking the main land with its thick wood, he looked back at Arien.  
  
Now in the lap of a new man she was looking right at him, over the man shoulder. Her eyes were narrowed, as the man licked her neck.  
  
It was hard to tell if she was actually enjoying it, but for his own sanity he decided that wasn't possible.  
  
That was, until he saw a man standing behind her, groping her chest, and smiling. She winked at him and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach.  
  
Running out onto the drawbridge he threw up over the edge just as Arthur, Tristan, and Artimus came into view.  
  
"What happened?" Arthur asked, patting him on the back.  
  
Lancelot tried to speak, but every time he did he just got sick again so he finally resorted to pointing towards Arien and the guards.  
  
"She's always been good at that." Artimus said, crossing his arms, not quite smiling.  
  
"At what......exactly?" Arthur asked curiously, watching her kissing one man while the others looked at her ass.  
  
Artimus laughed, "She never likes people to say it, but she is absolutely beautiful. She could have any man she wants........." he trailed off and suddenly cleared his throat, "We should move out of sight."  
  
Arthur and Tristan helped Lancelot steady him self as he led them back to the wall he had been hiding with Arien next to earlier.  
  
They waited quietly, resting in the dewy grass. Arthur was still sitting up with Lancelot while the others took short naps.  
  
"You are offended?" he asked quietly, watching Lancelot pull grass from the ground in boredom.  
  
"Of course not. Artimus was right......she could have anyone in the world......" he looked up at Arthur with a total lack of emotion that surprised him, "I just hoped it would be me."  
  
Before Arthur had a chance to correct him Arien jumped down in front of them, smiling.  
  
"We should go." She said quietly, smiling coyly. Arthur nodded and kicked Artimus and Tristan awake, "What happened to Lancelot? I saw him on the drawbridge." She asked, looking at Arthur as they walked back down the trail towards the village.  
  
"He saw you to." Arthur replied, looking at her with a disappointed expression. 


	9. Betrayal

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
They paid for 3 rooms in a nearby inn that night, but when it came time for dinner Arien said she would stay.  
  
They left her alone, but no one dare say a word to Lancelot about the events just an hour before.  
  
Instead Arien sat on the roof of the inn, letting the cool air rush over her, pleading for it to take away her troubles.  
  
"It would not be such a pity for you to fall." Lancelot said suddenly.  
  
Arien leaned forward, she had been sitting on top of the roof over her room's window. Looking at him she saw he did not look angry, but sad.  
  
She said nothing, just simply sat back up and looked at the moon.  
  
"Will you not apologize?" Lancelot asked coldly, sitting on the windowsill as he looked up at her.  
  
"I have done nothing wrong." She replied quietly.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, and disappeared back into her room, "Then go back to your husband woman. For if he refuses you, only the devil would claim your soul."  
  
Arien was suddenly overcome with rage as she climbed down, back into her room. He was in the process of leaving, half way out the door, when she grabbed his cloak and pulled him back.  
  
Pinning him against the wall she glared at him, nothing but fire in her eyes, "Who are you to judge my actions? You tell me you will not love me so now I am condemned to live my life simply wishing I could have you?!" she hissed angrily, her arm cutting off his oxygen as she leaned against his windpipe.  
  
Lancelot pushed her back, onto the floor.  
  
He pinned her to floor now, straddling her, and using his knees to prevent her from using her arms.  
  
His face glared down at her as he said, "And who are you to say you love a man while married to another?"  
  
Arien looked at him, in disbelief, shocked beyond words. He stood up and walked back over to the door, but before he left he heard her speak.  
  
"Alecto took things from me that I was willing to give to you. If you can honestly hold that sham of a marriage above my head you are no Knight." She sighed, "You are just a boy with a sword, playing hero like so many others."  
  
Lancelot slammed the door so hard it broke from its hinges and fell to the floor in front of Arien.  
  
------  
  
Arien walked out of the inn the next morning with out telling any of the others, she simply disappeared.  
  
Arthur had suspected she was just upset over what Lancelot had said the night before, but when Artimus warned them Alecto was living here with the Pope this summer they became edgy and abnormally quiet.  
  
In truth Arien had gone to see someone, but not Alecto.  
  
She walked quickly, looking behind herself every so often to make sure she wasn't being followed.  
  
She ended up on a busy street, full from edge to edge of close to bursting shops, each more intriguing then the last. The people all smiled at her, but she did nothing in return. The place she was looking for was a small floral shop, she knew the owner well and wished for someone to talk to.  
  
"Stephan?" she asked quietly, walking to the back of the shop.  
  
"Arien?" a tall handsome man asked curiously, sticking his head out from under the counter.  
  
She smiled at him, "It has been to long." She said, grinning at him.  
  
"Indeed it has!" he replied, standing up and whipping his hands off on a cloth from the counter. "What has brought here during such an unhappy time?"  
  
"I need your help." She said, looking at him seriously.  
  
"Of course...of course! Let us have tea, it is time for my break." Stephan said, pulling back a swinging door and motioning for her to go in.  
  
------  
  
It was Lancelot that thought to ask the owner of the inn which direction Arien had gone, but he did them one better.  
  
"She said something about a flower shop. Went visiting an old friend." The man paused and let out a huge burp, "Poor lass, she has no business here. Alecto will hear of her arrival."  
  
"Wait, you know her?" Lancelot asked suspiciously, leaning closer to the man over the counter, "When was the last time she was here?"  
  
The man laughed, "Arien is a Princess!" he said loudly, holding his arms in the air. The small groups of men in the bar that time of day held there glasses in the air and toasted to her in mumbles Lancelot could not decipher. "She was born here, along with her brothers, and cousins!" the large man said proudly. "You......did not know?" he asked, suddenly quiet.  
  
"She said she was born in a village." Arthur said suddenly.  
  
"Aye, just outside the castle walls, in the forest." The man said, now trying to clean a dirty mug with an even dirtier rag.  
  
"The Shadow People? They live in that forest? So close to the Emperors retreat?" Arthur asked, in total disbelief.  
  
The man winked but said nothing else for a few moments, "Did she ever mention the man that gave away her father to the Romans?" he asked seriously.  
  
"She did not know!" Artimus said suddenly, looking at him in horror, "She did not go to see Stephan? Tell me Inn Keeper! Where did she go?"  
  
The man raised his eyebrows, "She looked very upset, thought she was going to kill the man. Deserves it, that one. Turns in his own childhood friend for a few jewels."  
  
Artimus took off out of the shop and down the street before anyone got a chance to ask questions.  
  
"This floral shop is owned by the man that betrayed her father?" Lancelot asked quickly.  
  
The inn keeper nodded, when he looked back up at them, they were already hauling ass down the street after Artimus. 


	10. Underneath it All

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
They ran for god only knows how long, all they paid attention to was finding Artimus after he had turned a corner. It seemed like he had disappeared all together at some points.  
  
They all came to a halt very suddenly when they took a corner to fast and ran into a cart full of hay. All of them ended up hitting the side railing and flipping inside it.  
  
Running down the streets once more they left a trail of once good hay all over the place.  
  
One woman was so frightened by Lancelot when he jumped over her display table she threw an egg at him and it splattered all over his back.  
  
Artimus had stopped them finally, pulling them into an alley and talked to them in hushed voices, just across the street from the floral shop.  
  
"She has no idea what Stephan did." Artimus said, wheezing for air.  
  
"How could she not know? Everyone in that inn seems to have known her, or of her. Isn't it likely one of them might have said something about it? She could have really gone to kill the man." Tristan said, hoping he was right.  
  
Artimus shook his head, "She would not know. After her family was killed she ran, I only see her on occasion. No one here would even think to mention it though, might set her off on them."  
  
"Well, this Stephan character might not know that. He could think she's come to end his life, maybe he would let it slip how sorry he is and she would piece it together." Arthur said encouragingly.  
  
"Or maybe she had no idea and Stephan distracted her until Alecto could get to her." Lancelot said suddenly.  
  
"We are trying to think positive!" Arthur snapped.  
  
Lancelot wasn't paying any attention though; he was looking right over Arthur, towards the shop.  
  
Everyone turned around and was horrified to see Lancelot had been right.  
  
As they spoke a very mature looking Alecto stood outside the shop, watching as two guards carried Arien, who looked unconscious, and put her into a carriage.  
  
"We saved his life once. Would he return a favor and grant us audience?" Tristan asked quietly as the carriage disappeared down the crowded street.  
  
"He will do much more then that or we will take what he owes us." Lancelot said darkly, marching off after it.  
  
Arthur sighed, "What exactly does that man owe you?" Artimus asked quickly, all of them following Lancelot.  
  
"His life." Arthur said, "But I get a feeling he will not be easily persuaded to let his bride go......nor will Lancelot be quick to give up. We very well may die this night." He said lightly, smiling at Artimus.  
  
Artimus said nothing, but smirked at Arthur's words.  
  
------  
  
The entrance to the Emperors castle was heavily guarded, surprisingly enough none of the guards tried to hold them off, they simply ignored them as they walked past.  
  
Lancelot and Arthur walked in the lead, anxious to find out what was about to happen.  
  
They were stopped by a very thin, little, man who bowed to them, and ushered them into a room with a very large wood table. The fireplace on the far end of the rectangular room was lit, unusual for summer days.  
  
They sat quietly, trying not so seem too curious towards there treatment thus far.  
  
"He must have known we were coming." Lancelot said quietly, "Could Arien have told that man she traveled with Knights?"  
  
Arthur shrugged as the door swung open and in strutted a very perturbed looking Alecto.  
  
"To what do I owe the visit of my great friends from Camelot?" he asked curiously, sitting down in the largest seat, which also happened to be at the head of the table, with its back to the fireplace.  
  
Lancelot tried not to laugh when he realized the fireplace was lit to make Alecto look more powerful and dangerous then any man his age should be.  
  
"We have come to see your Bride, the Princess of Lothian." Arthur said politely.  
  
Alecto leaned back in his chair and surveyed them like they were locusts. "That is impossible."  
  
"Prey tell why?" Lancelot asked curiously, using most of his will power to stop himself from reaching out and strangling the boy.  
  
"She is hardly fit for visitors. A beauty true enough, but her spirit keeps her in chains unless she can calm herself." Alecto said simply. "Was there anything else?"  
  
Lancelot glared at him, "You would keep a woman in chains for the rest of her days? Is she nothing more to you then land and power?" he asked, clearly offended.  
  
Alecto raised his eyebrows, "I will need heirs someday."  
  
Lancelot leaned forward, clearly intimidating young Alecto, "You will let me see her." He commanded darkly.  
  
Alecto laughed, "I owe you nothing! Knights you were saved my family to earn there free will. Now that debt has been paid, I see no reason for you to make commands of a person such as my self."  
  
"Our will has always been our own." Arthur snapped.  
  
Alecto laughed again, but did not seem all that amused. "And what is free will anyways, it has no price, can not be purchased."  
  
"Free will is the ability to question authority. Asking why when no other would dare do so in fear of his safety." Lancelot said coldly.  
  
Alecto slammed his fist onto the table, "No one has the right to question me or my actions!" he yelled.  
  
"Our ancestors sold our souls to save their own lives!" Lancelot shouted, standing up now, "You sit here and hand yours to the devil freely! At least we know right from wrong and stand our ground defending it!"  
  
Alecto stood now to, but was clearly towered over by Lancelot in his rage. "It is better the right hand of the devil then the left arm of god! I am doomed to eternal damnation but my life on earth thus far has been more fulfilling then any of yours!"  
  
"Your life means nothing, you judge yourself by jewels, slaves, and the power your Uncle gives you! We live day by day watching boys fight for there lives, men give there's for there family, and women sacrifice everything so there child can live in a world without ultimate evil. We do not judge, but when others call our name they say hero.........what will they call you?" Arthur asked quietly.  
  
The room went silent. Everyone seemed amazed by his words.  
  
"They will call me god." Alecto said simply. His expression changing from anger to passive.  
  
Lancelot ran a hand thorough his hair and sighed, "Please, just let me speak with her."  
  
Alecto looked like he was about to deny him once more, but instead he nodded and pointed to the door, "Tell Charles to take you to her."  
  
------  
  
Lancelot left Arthur, Artimus, and Tristan with Alecto as he followed a tall man with no hair down three flights of stairs.  
  
Charles led him into a rather bright looking dungeon, there were windows in every cell, and the doors were non-existent. If this was the dungeon, he was interested in seeing the torture chamber. Probably full of potpourri.  
  
Arien was laying in one of the door less cells in the sunlight from her window.  
  
"Are you alright?" Lancelot asked quietly, standing in front of her.  
  
She smiled, but kept her eyes closed, "I can not believe I did not see it coming. He used to be such a friend to me ......I thought I could trust him Lancelot." She said quietly.  
  
"I blame that bloody inn keeper for not warning you." Lancelot said sourly.  
  
Arien sat up suddenly, "What?" she asked curiously. "Why would he warn me?"  
  
Lancelot smirked, "When we asked him where you went off to he went into this whole speech about how Stephan had betrayed your father."  
  
"Lancelot, I have never met that man before in my life. No one in this castle would even recognize me, the closest I ever got was playing on that beach outside the cave as a child." Arien said quietly.  
  
Lancelot looked confused, "But he knew all about the Shadow People living in the woods just outside the castle walls."  
  
Arien's jaw dropped, "The Shadow People live near Camelot. We were staying with them when we ran into you guys on accident."  
  
"I do not understand." Lancelot said, totally lost.  
  
Arien stood up and pulled him inside the cell with her, talking very quietly so no one would overhear, "Lancelot you are not safe here. Stephan was not the one that told Alecto I was here, it was Artimus." She hissed.  
  
"But Artimus came with us here, he is the one that yelled at the inn keeper for not telling us right away you had gone to the floral shop......I left Arthur and Tristan alone with them." He said suddenly.  
  
"Did you leave anything at the inn? Absolutely anything?" Arien asked urgently.  
  
"No, I only have my swords." Lancelot said quickly, still not understanding what was going on.  
  
"If you did not know Artimus betrayed me he must have had help." Arien paused, "That inn keeper knew who I was? What did he look like?" she asked curiously.  
  
"He was larger then the man from the other night, could he be a guard?" Lancelot asked suddenly.  
  
"How many men were in the bar?" she asked, looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was trying to listen.  
  
"Small groups of three or four every other table." Lancelot said.  
  
"They must all have been guards......alright, I do not think Alecto wants to capture you until you find your way back to the Inn." She stopped and starting hitting her head light against his shoulder, "Artimus must still have something left to do before he turns you in. Pay attention to what ever he asks you on the way back, but be sure not to go back to that inn!" Arien hissed, talking faster now, "I am not sure what they have planned......but Lancelot, on your way out if Alecto asks you what we talked about, tell him its none of his business. That just means he will come ask his guards later." She said.  
  
"What for?" he asked curiously, looking behind at the guard now headed there way.  
  
Arien wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. His short beard made her smile as it scratched lightly against her soft skin. It took him a few seconds but he caught on eventually and pushed her up against a wall and kissed back. His body pushing against hers she wrapped her legs around his waist.  
  
Arien slipped something into his pants just as a guard poked Lancelot hard in the back with his sword, "You go now." The man said, eyeing them.  
  
Lancelot glanced at her before turning and leaving, still trying to spice together everything she had said. Something didn't add up about the innkeeper, he was sure the man wasn't a guard......but he did know an awful lot about Arien, and she was sure they had never met.  
  
He walked quickly back to room he had left Arthur and Tristan in, surprised to see that they were the only ones in it when he arrived.  
  
"Well?" Arthur asked, seeing his distraught expression.  
  
"Do not trust Artimus." Lancelot hissed as the door opened and Artimus walked in with Alecto.  
  
"Ah, Lancelot. I trust you thought Arien was in good keeping?" Alecto asked curiously. "I am eager to know what you two might have been talking about for so long."  
  
"You sent no scribe to record our conversation, nor did I in my head preparing for your questions. I have done what I came for and we will take our leave now." Lancelot said sternly.  
  
Alecto nodded to them, "Until we meet again." He said, his eyes flashing.  
  
Lancelot ignored his comment and led them from the room, Arthur and Tristan walking just behind Artimus, who did not seem all that concerned about Arien at the moment. 


	11. Princess of Darkness

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
They walked silently until they were out of sight of any of the guards. Tristan and Lancelot took Artimus by the underarms and dragged him into an alley.  
  
"Explain this to us." Arthur asked quietly, watching for anyone coming up the street.  
  
"Arien said we could not trust him. She thinks he's been working for Alecto this whole time." Lancelot said angrily, punching the brick wall of a building Tristan had Artimus pinned to.  
  
"Bloody fools! She's going to betray you! If I do this first she will not be able to harm you!" Artimus wheezed, Tristan's arm against his windpipe.  
  
"We can not take anything you say as more then lies!" Lancelot said sternly, glaring at Artimus.  
  
"This woman is not all she appears to be! She has lied to you as often as my self!" Artimus replied darkly.  
  
"Prove it!" Lancelot said dangerously, "Give us one good reason not to kill you thins very moment!"  
  
"What do you know about her?" Artimus asked quietly, Tristan loosening his grip so he could talk easier.  
  
"She is the Princess of Lothian, the rightful heir beside her twin brother Owen, a young wizard. She travels to this place because she seeks........." Lancelot trailed off, loosing track of his thoughts.  
  
"I trust she not told you why you were headed here." Artimus said quietly.  
  
Lancelot shrugged, "One thing led to another, the plan changed......"  
  
Arthur growled, "Then tell us liar, what is it you know that we do not?" he asked angrily.  
  
Artimus sighed, "I heard word of the Slaughter of Kings by the Knights of the Round Table. That is why I was sent, those men were there own army, ready to fight for their land, Lothian. I assume you killed them in favor of Arien?"  
  
"What are you saying?" Tristan asked curiously, almost completely letting him go now.  
  
"Her Brother would not have been able to prove his heritage with so many others claiming to be he. Now you have demolished her competition and they are free to rule." Artimus said quietly, rubbing his neck.  
  
"That makes no sense, why would we have come here then if she no longer has any worry about her brother taking rule. All that is left is for her to sever her ties with Alecto, the marriage was false to begin with, besides, and with Owen alive even through the marriage Alecto would not inherit anything." Lancelot said dryly.  
  
Artimus raised his eyebrows, "Yes, if Owen was alive Alecto would not rule.........but neither would your beloved Princess pf Darkness."  
  
"Do you mean to say as we speak Alecto has sent men to raid Camelot and kill Owen?" Tristan asked, sounding scandalized by the very idea.  
  
"Knight's, what I am telling you is that your Princess has deceived you. She married Alecto after convincing him she was worth more alive then dead. Now she stands to inherit Lothian by the death of her brother......and half the Roman Empire by the death of her husband." Artimus replied darkly.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "She said not to trust you!"  
  
Artimus nodded, "How could you? From the moment I saw her in the forest that night I knew the truth. Alecto sent me to Camelot in search of her, she had been sent weeks before in a quest for the Shadow People she once lived with. This is a very complicated tale, it is best if we speak back in the Inn."  
  
Lancelot paused, "She warned the men in the Inn may have been knights sent to harm us upon our return." He said quietly.  
  
Artimus smiled, "They are Shadow People, there new home resides in the forest beyond these castle walls. Come." He said, motioning for them to follow him.  
  
They walked quietly, some doubting Artimus, some doubting Arien. None knowing the whole truth behind this tale.  
  
------  
  
Artimus waved hello to the Innkeeper as they walked in and up to there rooms.  
  
Shutting the door to Lancelot and Arthur's room Artimus sat on one bed and began his tale.  
  
"I believe Arien told you a version of this story that would most appeal to your inevitable urge to help people. The one about her father and brothers being killed while she was so young, leaving her hopeless and alone. Well good Knights, only a fraction of it is true." He paused briefly to clear his throat as the others sat on the floor, looking at him questioningly.  
  
"Arien was indeed raised with the Shadow People, as was I. Her father taught me by her side in all ways of waging mental and physical war, something she is most skilled with. Years went by, one by one her brothers left to fight for the Roman Empire, each hoping to rise thought the ranks into power, when they would reveal who they really were. You see, each failed miserably, being killed in battle or in a fight with a friend in a dingy tavern."  
  
"Soon all that was left was Arien and her twin brother Owen, who was not skilled in anything except reading and writing. His mother loved him best, having been most attached to her boys she almost completely ignored Arien at first. So she grew cold, learning to hate her self and her emotions she withdrew into a world where only violence and pain existed. She wanted more then anything to make her parents proud."  
  
"That is why, the night we were discovered, and the Romans came she did like her brothers. She used her best means to persuade a young man named Alecto to take her in. He thought he loved her, saw only her beauty, but neglected the signs of her ruthless ambition. Her heart was cold indeed, she never loved Alecto.........epically since the night she left her home with him, she believed he had killed Owen, she thought he was a conquer that would stop at nothing to kill her family. Using her inheritance and blood she negotiated a treaty with him.........marry him and hand over all her land, and her life would be spared."  
  
"Over the years she became used to the idea that she would rule Lothian, ignoring her contract with Alecto. It was the news of Owen still alive that sent her into a frenzy. She loved him, he was her only real family."  
  
"Are you seriously suggesting Arien would have Owen killed? She let him stay behind in Camelot so that he would be protected by Merlin!" Lancelot interjected defensively.  
  
"Let me finish!" Artimus snapped, glaring at him. He re adjusted himself on the bed and continued.  
  
"I do not know for sure, but she has been un capable of deciphering her emotions as of late. She could very well Owen, but consider him a threat to her own well being." Artimus paused, "What I do know is that her letting Owen stay behind is the only thing that has kept him alive. She says Owen rescued her from her husband, but in truth she was supposed to bring him to Alecto so he could be killed. I was only sent because Alecto became worried when he heard the other Kings had been killed, he assumed she was trying to overpower him, killing those Kings would no doubt lead back to Alecto and the Roman Emperor.........in that case it would be devastating to there influence on there people."  
  
"First there most beloved Knights betray them, ignoring the pleas with in the Kingdom for help when they would rather save the ones they have come to call there own." Artimus sighed, "Now the word of Kings, hidden from the public for generations, will be spread, but only of their death."  
  
"What is your point?" Arthur asked, getting impatient.  
  
"I am simply telling saying there are to many powers at work behind us during this for any one of us to afford to take sides. For one the Romans are fighting for control, but at the same time Arien will not stop for anything when it comes to fulfilling the destiny her father raised her to believe. Then there are also the Shadow People, who seek nothing but to end the Empire and Arien's bloodstained rage.........this will not end with out war.........but the war may be the end of us all."  
  
Artimus sat in silence with them for a few moments before he continued, "What do you know of Merlin? Is he a wise man?"  
  
Arthur nodded, "He is a very noble man with good intentions."  
  
"Everyone has good intentions King. Those women traveling with Arien when we first met......who were they?" Artimus asked quietly, looking out the window.  
  
"One was her cousin......the other a friend." Tristan said, curious to know where he may be headed with the question.  
  
"Arien has no cousin, her parents had no siblings. In fact, they wore marking of Shadow Warriors.:" Artimus said coolly.  
  
"I think she would have know if they truly were not of her Kin." Lancelot said darkly, crossing his arms.  
  
"Indeed she would have." Artimus replied quietly.  
  
"You honestly believe she knew we would follow her, allowing toes women full reign of my Castle while we were gone?" Arthur asked, not believing a word of it.  
  
"I believe Arien can make a man do anything......that if she wills it they will bend to her words. Owen on the other hand I do not think she is capable of harming......but he must at least disappear in order for her to take power......knowing him he would gladly take up his home with monks to allow himself time to read and write." Artimus said, crossing his arms.  
  
"So much of this still does not make sense. Why would she want us here now? If we are so close to Alecto, is it not true we would be more able to sense the lies and deception?" Tristan asked curiously.  
  
"Not if he believes he is really the one in control." Lancelot said suddenly, "When we spoke with him he told us he was keeping her in chains.........but seeing her she in no more then a door less cell with light and plenty of food. Is it not possible she has made him believe his power over her own will is more then she can stand? What if she is not planning to kill him......but to let him rule, while she stands behind him.........working the poor boy like a puppet."  
  
Artimus nodded sadly, "I know she means no harm to any of you, but even as a child......she has no sense of right and wrong. How else could such a beautiful woman be so cold and outright numb to hundreds of murdered victims?"  
  
"Then what can we do?" Lancelot asked, "Are the Shadow People downstairs waiting for her to come back......or for us to try and leave?" Tristan asked, looking at the shut door.  
  
"They are hear......to watch. Like toes before them, they do not interfere until the people are in dire need of assistance." Artimus replied quietly.  
  
"Well I think now qualifies, don't you damn well agree?" Tristan asked, suddenly angry.  
  
"They will do nothing until they are sure of Arien's intentions. For that.........they will need someone she is close to........." he trailed off, everyone now looking at Lancelot.  
  
"What must I do?" he asked quietly, straining his brain to comprehend everything he had just been told 


	12. A New Contract Between Liars

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
Arien walked into Lancelot's room and looked around quietly.  
  
No one was in the Inn tonight.  
  
She stood for a second, thinking they might have left, but when she turned around he was standing in the doorway looking very grim.  
  
"How did you escape?" he asked quietly, stepping inside and shutting the door softly.  
  
Arien sighed, "I did not escape......he let me go."  
  
"Just like that?" Lancelot asked curiously, turning to face her.  
  
"I can not explain it anymore then you can." She said quietly, "He simply......told me I was free for the day......but if I was not back by nightfall he would never let me leave again."  
  
"He trusts you now? After all you have done to him?" Lancelot asked, walking over to the bed and sitting down.  
  
Arien shrugged, "He trusts no one except those to weak to defy him......like Artimus."  
  
Lancelot laughed, "Yes Artimus......he has told me some very interesting things about you."  
  
"I assumed he would......you left him alone with Alecto, he had plenty of time to fill him in on everything that had happened and change his tactics." Arien said, stepping towards him.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "Don't. Not now......not after you lied to me."  
  
Arien smiled, "You figured it all out then?"  
  
Lancelot nodded slightly, playing with something in his hands. "I just think it would have been easier......if you told us from the beginning."  
  
"It is a very complicated tale Lancelot, it would have taken years to explain any other way." Arien said quietly, sitting down next to him now.  
  
He handed her a ring, "How did you know it would all end up like this?" he asked suddenly.  
  
"Artimus should have never been in that forest that night unless someone had warned him."  
  
Lancelot smirked, "So the Prince, Alecto......and Artimus have been plotting to kill you from the beginning?" he asked, sounding amused. He looked at the ring he had handed her, it was the same as many men in the Inn were wearing that morning, and same as the Innkeeper, the one she had slipped into his pants earlier. They were indeed Shadow People, but here for a totally different reason then Artimus had told them.  
  
"I still don't really understand it my self, but I began to suspect when Alecto allowed me to go my self in search of Owen. Diamandra and Lorain were childhood friends, sent to help me by their people as they suspected the same devilry as my self when they heard of Owen." Arien said lightly.  
  
Lancelot raised his eyebrows, "He has the others convinced you are trying to kill Owen, then Alecto to gain full control."  
  
"Not a bad idea......but even though they have tried to kill me, I could not harm my only living brother. I have not yet found out why he would have wanted to join them......unless he felt the same as I did, that the other had been killed and they were seeking an imposter." She paused, "But seeing him was like magic......he looks so much like my father......yet his mind is easily molded to believe lies."  
  
Lancelot shrugged, "Then what are you really planning to do?" he asked quietly.  
  
Arien laughed, "I will kill Artimus, but other then that Alecto and Owen are of no consequence."  
  
"No consequence? Alecto will grow into power and seek to destroy you! Owen may be dull and ill-equipped with his staff, but one day he may snap as well and try to kill you once more." Lancelot said loudly, obviously disturbed by her comment.  
  
Arien said nothing, she just looked at him calmly. Lancelot sighed and smiled at her, "What now?" he asked quietly.  
  
She cupped her hands around his face and kissed him lightly on the lips. He paused, looking into her eyes before he wrapped his hands around her and began kissing her neck.  
  
She leaned into him as he began pulling on the ties of her leather top, just below the sleeveless arm.  
  
He slid it off easily, once he had gotten the ties loose, then stared at her bare chest. She had many scars, especially on the sleeved arm and her stomach, each looking like a serrated blade of some kind had caused them.  
  
He kissed her again, his hands wandering all over her upper body as they lay back on the bed. He crouched above her, feeling hotter and hotter as she gently pulled off his loose top, tossing it aside with out further thought.  
  
Lancelot ran a hand though her hair as she undid his pants and pulled them off as best she could. He sat off to pull them the rest of the way off him self, but stopped suddenly and looked at her with a confused expression.  
  
"How old are you?" he asked quietly, his thoughts moments ago completely forgotten as she lay topless in front of him.  
  
Arien sat up as well, but pulled the sheets over herself before she replied, "Twenty three." She said dully.  
  
Lancelot nodded, but something was still bothering him, "How could you have learned all those skills in such short years?"  
  
Arien sighed, "Why do you ask questions now?"  
  
Lancelot sat down at her side and looked at her curiously, "Because I sit here with you, wanting nothing more then to rip off all your clothes....but I still know so little about you. True I know what lies in your past, but who you are as a person is a mystery to me."  
  
She nodded, not really paying attention, instead of replying she pulled him on top of her once more and kissed him again. This time he did not object, but he took his own sweet time to pull her skirt off, like he enjoyed teasing her.  
  
Three hours later he collapsed beside her, panting heavily as he tried to breath. Arien Smiled, laughing quietly as ecstasy overcame her.  
  
He grinned to, "Simply amazing." He said weakly.  
  
Arien sat up and positioned her self so she was crouching over him, her legs to the side of his as she spoke, "Do you trust me?" she asked quietly, straddling him and pumping her self up and down as he gripped her hips.  
  
Lancelot nodded, trying to keep himself from shouting her name as she pulled up his arms gently, stretching them to there limit.  
  
She leaned down and kissed him, hard on the lips, like she was suddenly angry. Biting his bottom lip gently as she pulled away Lancelot noticed his arms had become linked to one of the bars of the canopy to the bed.  
  
She remained sitting on top of him, but glared at him coldly. "Those were under your pillow lover......you know I would never harm you, but I know what Artimus asked you to do to me......keep me busy for a few hours so he could get Arthur and Tristan into the castle before my return." She kissed him again, resting her arms on his chest, watching his look of confusion grow rapidly. "I am aware you think I am trying to kill Alecto......but Artimus was wrong about one thing, I did love my husband......until the night he killed my daughter." She said sadly, stepping onto the floor and gather up her clothes.  
  
"Artimus never mentioned a child." Lancelot said in his own defense.  
  
"He wouldn't have, you see Artimus is the lap dog of the Roman Empire, he is told only what he needs to know." Arien said, pulling up her skirt. "In this case all he needed to know was that I had gone insane and was seeking the death of my brother." She paused, and looked down at him with pity. "You will never know the truth of my life, nor Artimus'......but Lancelot, I never lied to you about who I am. Princess or not, I only seek revenge......you were unexpected in my path."  
  
She finished tying her top and looked around on the floor, "Where is my fathers ring?" she asked quietly.  
  
Lancelot tried to point to the bedside table, but he realized it was useless effort on his part to move his arms.  
  
"You would sleep with me to betray me, not to love me?" she asked quietly, taking the ring and slipping it onto her thumb.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "I tried to stop my self! You know that!"  
  
Arien squatted down, her face level with his. "I do......but now I must leave you to your thoughts." She said, smiling at him as she stroked the side of his cheek with her left hand.  
  
"Arien, what will you do now?" he asked suddenly, watching her eyes.  
  
"My father was only found out because Artimus could not hold his tongue. After that it was he who told me of my brothers death......I should have thought it strange earlier how his life was spared when he had nothing to offer the Empire like I did. I blame him for the death's of my family........." She trailed off, looking at his hands, cuffed to the bedpost.  
  
"I can help you." Lancelot said desperately, not liking the idea of Arthur having to find him naked in his own bed.  
  
Arien shook her head, "Artimus is a very persuasive liar......but he lacks ambition, he works to see the dreams of others come true, never his own." She smiled at Lancelot, "But you are different......if I let you go now, you would gladly risk your own life to save that of a condemned man." She stood up and began walking to the door, but stopped and turned back around, looking at Lancelot like she had a sudden idea, "What if Arthur's life were in jeopardy? Would you let me kill Artimus if I let you save your friends?"  
  
Lancelot thought for a second, pulling on the chains and weighing his chances, "If you promise Owen and Alecto will walk away unharmed I will grant you the life of the demon that sold out your family long ago."  
  
Arien smiled, "Then we have a deal......but break it and I will not hesitate to kill you as well."  
  
Lancelot rolled his eyes, "I do not doubt it, but will you please unlock these now so I can dress my self?" he asked impatiently.  
  
Arien raised an eyebrow, "You look much better like this." She said sarcastically.  
  
"Really?" Lancelot asked seriously, looking at himself as best he could with a great sense of pride. 


	13. Wizard of Travesty

Summary: Ordinary men make extraordinary heroes. Now Women, prove there worth to King Arthur and his knights in the midst of a battle for their homeland from the Roman Empire.  
  
Disclaimer: I know what I wrote and I know what I got from the movie. Frankly, that's good enough for me.  
  
------  
  
Arien twirled a sword in each hand as she walked into the front hall of Alecto's castle.  
  
Lancelot walked just besides her, gripping his own swords tightly as they scanned the room.  
  
"Only six guards outside, hardly fair." Arien said quietly, looking towards the open door under the large staircase, directly in front of them.  
  
Lancelot smirked, "Yes I think it was, pity they cut your top." He said sarcastically.  
  
Arien laughed sarcastically right back at him, they had indeed cut through her shirt, just above her skirt, revealing her tan flat stomach as she walked.  
  
They headed through the only open door, back to back and looked around.  
  
"Something's wrong." Arien said quietly, looking at all of the shut windows and drawn curtains.  
  
"Could he know I'm helping you?" Lancelot asked curiously, heading over to one of the windows and wrenching the curtains back.  
  
The light flooded into the room, but they left it quickly seeing that it was also empty.  
  
The next room was more promising, three guards stood in front of Tristan, bound and gagged on a chair, watching them with wide eyes.  
  
"What do you think......I kill two, you kill one?" Arien asked with a slight smile, twirling her swords again.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "I'll let you have all three. I get a kick out of watching them drop to the ground, pretending you've already killed them before you even get the chance."  
  
The first guard looked frightened out of his mind, shaking severely. The second looked like he was about to pee him self, but the third, no he looked ready to fight.  
  
The third guard was a very large man with a greedy expression, like killing her would make his worthless existence just a little more important in the eyes of his master.  
  
Arien gave him a pouty face as she revealed her torso to him and held her swords up at her sides, daring him to make a move.  
  
He lunged, just like she had hoped, but in an unexpected turn of events he headed for Lancelot instead. Three moments later Lancelot had killed the man, even in his surprised state.  
  
"What the fuck was that for?" he asked angrily, kicking the limp man in the side of the head. "These bloody Romans!" he hissed.  
  
Arien patted Tristan on the shoulder after she pulled out the cloth stuffed in his mouth and cut him free of the chair.  
  
"Lancelot, we were all wrong! Artimus was working for Alecto the whole time, but he doesn't want Arien! He wants Arthur!" Tristan said desperately, standing up and catching the sword Lancelot tossed to him.  
  
Arien raised her eyebrows, "This is getting better every second." She said, smiling at him.  
  
Lancelot shrugged, smiling as well.  
  
"Your both sick you know?" Tristan asked seriously, leading them to where he said they had Arthur.  
  
"Why does he want Arthur? Why go though all of this just to get me to bring him here? How would I not know?" Arien asked quietly, handing Lancelot one of her spare swords.  
  
Lancelot shook his head, "I have lot all track of everything you people have told me. All I need to know is who's the bad guy, who captured who, and where to kill him.  
  
Arien nodded, "That works." She said, laughing a little as they walked down a flight of stairs past the cells Arien had been kept in.  
  
Tristan pointed to the door directly ahead of them now, all the way at the end of a very dark and long hallway, lit by nothing except a torch halfway though.  
  
"This is very unusual." Lancelot said sarcastically, noting how very expected the dark dank lair was for this type of situation.  
  
Arien pulled open the door quickly as soon as they reached it, revealing at least twenty guards, all looking right at them.  
  
"That's unusual." Arien said , smirking at them  
  
"Yes indeed." Lancelot said, readying his sword and the one Arien had lent him.  
  
Tristan grinned, "You know, it's the times like this I really miss......locked up in Camelot we never get a good rescue mission any more......" he trailed off then cleared his throat, "Ya, I'm ready."  
  
"Charge boys!" Arien yelled, running at them.  
  
Arien jumped as soon as one guard swung his sword at her, she glided into the air and hit the floor full force, sliding to the back of the room, hitting her head on the wooden door.  
  
Lancelot and Tristan were handling the situation well, no on seemed to miss her so she stood up and quietly pulled the door open.  
  
She slipped inside, glad this room was significantly better lit then the others.  
  
Alecto stood in the middle of the room, holding his bow, pointed right at her heart.  
  
"Hello Wife." He said coldly.  
  
"I am no Wife of yours." She spat angrily.  
  
"Still on edge about that little girl I see?" Alecto, lowered his bow slightly, looking at her with a stony expression, "She was not even mine......you whore." He whispered angrily.  
  
Arien raised her eyebrows, "How dare you!" she hissed, forgetting about the bow. "I was never, NEVER unfaithful to you ! I did everything you asked and more! That child was innocent of any of my flaws, as well as yours!"  
  
Alecto shook his head slightly, "That child was a demon. She looked at me like I was nothing more then serf."  
  
Arien felt her jaw go slack, "You killed my daughter, Artimus betrayed my family, your Uncle oppresses his people. Those are all three good reasons to kill three very bad people."  
  
Alecto's eyes flashed dangerously. "I have a bow Wife, you have a sword. I would sooner strike you dead with my arrow then let you take one step towards me.  
  
"Coward." Someone whispered from above them.  
  
Arien looked up curiously, but was horrified to see Arthur, King of Camelot and Briton bound by the hands and dangling from a hook, if he fell he would surely die.  
  
"How can you torture this man?" Arien asked in total disbelief as she looked back at Alecto.  
  
"He killed my father. He took my workers and told them they could be free......I will kill him, and his friends.........then take his land as my own, as well as yours Princess.: Alecto replied darkly.  
  
"What happened to you?" Arien asked quietly.  
  
Alecto looked confused, "What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"These men saved your life......your father was a horrible man, torturing his slaves by locking them into cubbies under the earth......when I married you......you were a good man, righteous and full of virtue. Now you kill children and murder good men?" she asked weakly, actually sick from his venomous words.  
  
Alecto glared at her, "I married you for your beauty......but you betrayed me, you tried to trick me......"  
  
"What are you talking about? If I was going to kill you I would have done while I shared your bed!" Arien shouted, angry beyond belief he was being so stupid.  
  
Alecto smiled, but it was at that exact moment she noticed something was wrong. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes looked petrified.  
  
Suddenly his face went blank, like a wave washed over his face and took away his expressions.  
  
She ran forward and caught him before he fell to the ground. Crouching down, holding his in her arms had looked up at her like a child would look at a new flower.  
  
"I am sorry......I did love the girl......" he said quietly, his eyes beginning to shut.  
  
"Arien! What witchery is this?!" Arthur asked loudly, from above her.  
  
She stood up and looked around, "Owen." She said suddenly.  
  
There was a terrible heartless laughter all around them now.  
  
"What have you done?" she asked, spotting him now in front of her.  
  
"You were wrong sister. You should have never left me in Camelot." Owen said darkly, starting to pace around her.  
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Arthur yelled angrily.  
  
Owen waved his staff in the air and Arthur cried out in pain, then he went completely still and silent, hanging in the air limply.  
  
"Do you understand now? Everything I have done was carefully orchestrated......I had to get your Husband to kill his own daughter......for that I had convince him you had betrayed him, which was easy, he has always been jealous of all the other men that watched you as you walked past." Owen paused to smile at her, "Then I had to fool you. I started rumors about my self, they spread like wildfire to all the right people. Something unexpected happened though, you suspected me all along......you knew it was odd I suddenly appeared out of no where, only you thought it was a trick of Alecto's!" he laughed again, making her heart race.  
  
"You are a liar." Arien said quietly.  
  
"Oh am I now?" Owen asked quietly. "So you will not believe me when I tell you I killed Bors, Diamandra, and Lorain a day after you left us? I never thought you would make it so easy."  
  
Arien shook her head, "Father tried to teach you to fight......but it was no fault of his own that you could not hold a sword.........you are smart, but tactless. You lied when you said this was all your doing, so prey tell who is helping you?"  
  
Owen glared at her, "He favored you, even before the others died. He knew you had what it would take to rule my Kingdom. But he overlooked me, where you had skills with weapons and words, I had the skills of magic......but since you asked, there was one that helped me to find you all those years ago." Owen smiled at her again, "I found him cowering in a dung pile just a few days after you were taken." He waved his hand and the door flew open, Artimus pushed Lancelot and Tristan to the ground before following them inside.  
  
"You see, this I already knew......Artimus has always been a very bad liar, every time he said something he was dropping another bread crumb, leading me to Alecto......who led me to you." Arien said lightly.  
  
Lancelot sat up and rubbed his forehead, glaring at Artimus, "Wait a tick, what's the wizard doing?" he asked curiously.  
  
Arien waved a hand at him, "Owen, why? Is this all just to prove our father wrong? To let him know you are worth every bit of attention he gave me?"  
  
Owen shrugged, "Our Father is dead......this is about us. We are twin's dear sister, supposed to be perfect equals. Instead you have everything you could have ever dreamed of. WHAT DO I HAVE?!" he shouted angrily. "I was left a forgotten boy in a deserted village!"  
  
"HE TOLD ME YOU WERE DEAD!" Arien yelled back, getting angry he had to go through a mental breakdown and drag her down with him.  
  
"You never even looked for my body......I watched you go, from the stables. I saw you throw your home away like it was nothing more then a blade of grass." Owen said, suddenly very quiet.  
  
"You have spent the better part of your life making mine a living hell?" Arien asked, convinced he was insane. "You killed my daughter......my husband......my friends." She said quietly, looking down at her swords.  
  
"And now I shall kill all of your friends, forcing you to watch what happens when you betray your family!" Owen yelled, pointing his staff up at Arthur.  
  
"No......My Brother died long ago, in a village surrounded by the people who loved him most. Now a soulless shell stands before me, declaring war against my friends......Leave them be, for if not I will end this here and now. I will not hesitate to take your life, like you have done to so many innocents during your dark and emotionless years on this earth." Arien said slowly.  
  
Owen laughed and waved his staff towards her, an invisible force knocking her to the floor, where she lay for a moment next to Lancelot.  
  
"I will help you." He said quietly, brushing some hair from her face as they sat up.  
  
Arien shook her head, "I would risk my life for yours, but I can not allow you to do the same for me. He is my demon."  
  
Lancelot watched in a sort of trance as she stood out and gripped her swords so tight she must have bruised them.  
  
Owen watched her, everything was in slow motion, he pulled up his staff, pointing it at her, and she crossed the swords in front of her as he began chanting. She was a mere three feet away when everything stopped.  
  
Owen looked horrified over his sister's shoulder as an arrow flew right towards his heart.  
  
Arien saw to late it fly past her and strike Owen. She reached out to stop it, but instead it flew right though her hand, sending pain through ever fiber of her being.  
  
She fell to the floor, overcome by the sheering pain, on her knees, she saw through blurred vision as Owen finished his chanting.  
  
A bolt of lightening flew towards her as Owen dropped to the ground, his cold eyes softening as life left him, he stared at her unblinking, sending chills down her spine.  
  
She saw Alecto, standing tall now, his bow at his side, he was looking at Arien and shouting something she could not hear.  
  
Looking back at the bolt of lightening she saw how truly beautiful it was, moving so slow towards her.  
  
Then she saw Tristan, waving his hands, shouting as well.  
  
Everything was going so slow, and her body hurt so much, it was hard for her to concentrate.  
  
What she saw next snapped her back into reality. Lancelot was running to her, as fast as he could.  
  
The same moment the lightening would have struck her and taken her life he pushed her to the side and she slid into the wall, hitting her head.  
  
When she looked up next, she went numb for a moment. Her brother dead, an arrow from her Husband though his heart. Then she saw Lancelot , lying on the floor, barely breathing.  
  
She pulled her self over to him, scarcely daring to breath her self.  
  
"Lancelot?" she asked weakly, her vision blurring again as she looked down at him.  
  
He smiled at her, his whole face lit up.  
  
"I do love you." He said quietly, his expression fading suddenly as he started gasping for breath.  
  
Arien felt the tears starting to steam down her cheeks as she smiled back, "I love you." She said quietly, kissing his forehead as his eyes shut again and he went quiet. "I love you so much." She said, sobbing now as she looked down at his lifeless body.  
  
Tristan and Alecto stood quietly, looking at Arien as she cried, holding onto Lancelot in the middle of the room. In front of them Owen laid dead, his expression peaceful. Arthur above them, awake now, he said nothing, but they were all as mortified as Arien by the scene.  
  
She looked up at them, "What have I done?"  
  
------  
  
THE END  
  
Have no fear, there will be a sequel soon enough. 


	14. AN

AN:  
  
Ok, let me just say thank you to everyone who has reviewed thus far :D  
  
I was thinking about the sequel last night and while I had been planning to finish my other stories before putting it up, I think I need to get on with it now....  
  
I have very many ideas, the first of which is that this is a three-part story. Each one has a different main character, but let me also add that the second one is the first time Arien's family will gain their rule of Lothian......although it will not be her! As a matter of fact she will only have a few minor scenes in the next two stories. I am very excited :D  
  
About the next main character...his name is......his name shall be!  
  
Well, I have a pretty good idea but I don't want to spoil it any more then I already have......  
  
Once again, thank you to all who have read this......as for the next two, I know this one ended very suddenly and it kind of felt rushed, but just remember you wont find out the truth about anything really until the last few chapters of the third story (actually......there might be four now that I think about it......) All of them will be progressively longer and make everything seem gradually sensible.  
  
REVIEW! I know some of you are reading this with out reviewing! REVIEW!  
  
-Mary  
  
(The second one will appear some time today or tomorrow......) 


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